Railways and Large Urban Development on the Paris Left Bank Alain Boudon

Feature Redevelopment of Railway Sites

To give more balance to the eastern side the minimum necessary for rail • Service tracks for train formation and of Paris, in 1988, the local government operations, and to permit construction of preparation launched preliminary development plans structures over railway lines, thereby • Main track for the south-eastern section of the city creating a new cityscape not divided by • A maintenance shop for passenger on the left bank of the River Seine. track. In other words, it was decided that rolling stock Due to the importance of railway lands in rail infrastructure can be compatible with • Railway housing and social facilities this part of the city and to protect assets the urban environment as long as the • Service buildings needed by the railway for its operations, railway does not occupy the entire space the city authorities and the French National in high-density areas. SNCF agreed to the long-term transfer of Railways (SNCF) decided to work closely about 20 ha at ground level and 30 ha together from the early planning stages. above ground (over tracks). The first studies explored numerous The Project alternatives dealing with fundamental considerations, such as configuration of The urban planning project extends 2.5 km Project Organization public space, management of railway along the Seine and encompasses 130 ha operations in rail corridors, and the future or 1.2% of the total area of the city. The A partnership was established between the cityscape along the Seine. targeted zone had considerable rail Paris city authorities and SNCF right from A feasibility study examined the possibility operations that initially occupied almost the start. of relocating Austerlitz Station outside the half of the development zone. The rail The city authorities gave responsibility for city limits to release most railway right- facilities included: the project to Société d’Économie Mixte of-way inside the city for other purposes. • Austerlitz Station building (serving d’Amenagement de Paris (SEMAPA), a However, the final results persuaded the trunk and suburban lines) public–private entity. SNCF owns 20% of city authorities and SNCF against • Boulevard Massena Resean Express the SEMAPA capitalization, and has two relocation for several important reasons: Regional (RER) metro station representatives on the administrative board. • There was a desire to keep Austerlitz • An Auto-Train (Car-Sleeper) station Due to restrictions caused by rail Station in the heart of the city in order • A freight distribution centre infrastructure, SEMAPA gave the role of to maintain the attraction of rail travel; • Relocation would have moved Austerlitz Station away from nearby The Paris Railway Network

Lyon Station and the proximity of the Austerlitz Station two stations is considered an Cergy- River Seine important SNCF asset; St. Christophe

• It would have been very difficult to Cergy- Montigny- Freight Distribution Pontoise Beauchàmp Centre find another site with the same level CDG River Seine

D R of access to public transport services; E B

E R Auto-Train

• Relocation would have had a very R Station

E R Argenteuil Main E R RER B R C LRT Track negative impact on rail services A

R leading into Paris, necessitating the E RER E (EOL St. Germain R E) A Chelles en-Laye | | Gournay | movement of all rail infrastructure up La Défense | | | | RER E (future exte LLyonyon to 10 or 20 km from the station, nsion) AusterlitzAusterlitz RERA Marne-la-Vallée Bercy including workshops, train formation Torcy Train Formation LRT BibliothequeBibliotheque and Preparation F.F. MitterandMitterand R Villiers-sur-Marne E yards, inspection pits, train cleaning R Le Plessis-Trévise Versailles C RER C St. Quentin- R

machinery, etc.; en-Yvelines R RER D R Robinson A E R Choisy-le-Roi 0 5 10 km • The considerable investment would St. Quentin- C en-Yvelines R ER C Massy- Boissy lead to high-interest loans adversely Palaiseau ORL St-Léger RE : Metro ( : Météor) R C affecting the balance sheet. St. Rémy- RER B New section : RER ( ||||||||| | : ) les Chevreuse built for EOLE Savigny- : SNCF sur-Orge However, as an alternative, SNCF agreed to reduce its right-of-way requirements to

Transfer floor at Bibliotheque François Mitterrand Station (SNCF) Artist’s impression of Austerlitz Station platform (SNCF)

contractual supervision and responsibility laid under SNCF contract supervision. The platform and track for Line 14 is for project management to SNCF (Table 1). The rest of this article discusses two major 15 m below ground level and lower Construction plans included: parts of the redevelopment project that than the water table fed by the nearby • Laying slab superstructure over tracks have been achieved. Seine. The poor ground required cut- and building supports and foundations and-cover excavation with molded for that superstructure Construction of Bibliothèque walls to assure water-tightness. • Construction of supporting structures François Mitterrand Station • Coordination of subway construction for facilities to be built on the slabs The Paris Left Bank Planned Development phases with rail operations • Laying of service conduits to create a Zone (PDZ) is undergoing significant The cut-and-cover construction ran supply network within the slabs changes. At its completion, the zone will under railway lines, so railways tracks • Construction or reconstruction of road support 20,000 residents, 60,000 jobs and had to be moved in phases to ensure crossings over lines 30,000 students, as well as visitors to the minimum disturbance of trains serving Bibliothèque Nationale de France (French Austerlitz Station. Temporary tracks Reseau Ferré de France (RFF) owns most National Library). were laid to free areas for civil of the railway lines, and in 1997, it granted Construction of the Bibliothèque François engineering works. First, the tracks SNCF the role of contract supervisor for Mitterrand Station will permit transfer were centralized as far as possible, modifying the rail network (construction between the new automatic subway line permitting construction on each side of slab superstructure, and release of any and the RER C commuter rail line, greatly of the project to proceed while trains transferred rights-of-way). improving public transport within the PDZ. ran through the middle of the site. The station opened in December 2000 Then, the rail services were moved to Two Major Projects Completed after 8 years of study and construction temporary tracks in the completed Under SNCF Supervision work to overcome three major hurdles: sections of the site, freeing up the • Limitations imposed by natural central right-of-way and making it At present, about 8 ha of slab have been environment possible for the station civil engineering to take shape. The final track layout was put into service after Table 1 Major Parties in Construction Project slabs were laid over the station. The Infrastructure slabs Société d’Économie Mixte d’Amenagement de Paris (SEMAPA) last step was completion of PDZ slab Railway construction Reseau Ferré de France (RFF) work for areas previously occupied by RER C Commuter line station (SNCF Ile de France Office) rail line detours. Line 14 subway station Regie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) • Need for complex architectural Project management structure SNCF Direction des Opérations Nouvelles The height of the transfer concourse Etablissement Equipement de Paris Austerlitz Invalides Ingenierie de la region de Paris Rive Gauche was limited by level constraints, so the Architects J. M. Duthilleul and E. Tricaud of SNCF Agence des Gares architects designed an arched ceiling to give the impression of space. The

concourse features some 20 different pads, pillars and netting, header joints, supporting pillars open upwards with arched shapes. Consisting of fair- girders and a hollow concrete flooring. finely fluted corollas, giving the concrete faced concrete, the visible parts of They house conduits supporting a light, almost airy appearance. arches are light-coloured concrete infrastructure for electricity, The complex geometric structure chosen for its architectural qualities, telecommunications, sewers, water necessitated by railway and technical while non-visible parts consist of runoff, potable water, heating and cooling, constraints is harmoniously integrated into regular grey concrete. Due to the etc. Smoke and ventilation shafts at the overall design. complex structure, the configuration regularly spaced intervals lead above the The smoke shafts form a relatively of each steel reinforcement in the station. Tree pots with a volume of 12 m3 inconspicuous part of the ceiling concrete was planned by a total of 80 each line the passageways. These various architecture and contribute a soft natural engineers and designers. To build the installations influenced the design work light. Extensive effort was made to forms and frames, the planners had to and load-bearing calculations. optimize the curved sections of the create about 900 calculation models The design for the future Austerlitz Station platforms and give a quarter of the ceiling and 2300 construction plans! has been inspired by the Bibliothèque surface a unique shape with barely Since different slabs are superimposed François Mitterrand Station in its use of noticeable discrepancies in joint spacing. on each other, the design had to white concrete and circular motifs. This The undulating shape of the ceiling ensure solidity and durability. This very novel architecture hints at Austerlitz facilitates fire safety by creating bays that was achieved by erecting three-pillar Station’s connection to the Spanish direct smoke towards the smoke shafts. sets that are independent from each railway system—the SNCF Agence des At present, the five tracks closest to the another and from the arched ceiling Gares designers were inspired by the Seine are being covered, while permitting across the transfer concourse. The Gaudi-esque architecture of Barcelona. continued use of the station. The covering center pillar bears the slab with the The ceiling above the platforms features will be extended gradually over all 20 railway tracks, while the two flanking arches and counter-arches. The arches tracks. I pillars support the infrastructure slabs allow passage for trains while the counter- on which the buildings are arches permit passage of conduits. The constructed. This design prevents ceiling is composed of prefabricated shells transfer of vibration caused by passing enhanced by soft, indirect lighting. The trains to the buildings. Alain Boudon Platform covering at Austerlitz Station Mr Boudon is Director of Operations at SNCF where he has held various posts in operation and The 3-m thick slabs over the platforms at infrastructure maintenance since joining SNCF after graduating from the Ecole Centrale des Arts and Manufactures, one of top engineering schools in France. Austerlitz Station are a mixture of steel frames and reinforced concrete. Their foundations rise from limestone bedrock 15 m below. The structure consists of base