Early 19^th century the Gare de Lyon and the Gare d’Orsay, two of the largest railway in Paris was built. Along the Seine opposite the Louvre is the Gare d’Orsay. It was planned to bring electrified trains right to the city of Paris by the Compagnie d’Orleans.

The first designer of the Orsay Museum was Eugene Henard. He planned to use industrialized materials facing the Louvre. But he then receives mixed reviews from preservationists and decided to seek advice into a competition from a parliamentary commission.  Victor Laloux, the winner of that contest had also planned the railway station in Tours, France.

His design was commended for the assimilation of the metal vault in the stone exterior. It measures 140 meter long, 32 meter high and 40 meter wide. As a whole it has 175 x 75 meter in measurement. About 12,000 tons of metal was utilized for the construction of the Gare d’Orsay, more than that of metals used in Eiffel Tower.

It was then a railway stationGare d’Orsay was considered a work of art of industrial architecture and was inaugurated in the 14^th of July 1900 during the World Paris Exposition. But when trains arise for modernization, the Gare d’Orsay was set aside as a train station. As time passes it has been used as a parking lot, as a theatre location and even as an area for the prisoners of war.

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There is convenience in taking the train to Paris since it is well associated to the rest of Europe. There’s no common station serving Paris, there are six dissimilar stations that are not connected to each other. It is important to be acquainted to what station you will be arriving for you to have a better choice in picking hotels, restaurants and transportation within the city.

Gare d’Austerlitz – this station caters regular trains to and from the center and southwest of France, Spain and Portugal and those arrival of majority night trains.

Gare de I’Est – this station caters trains to and from Luxembourg, Germany, Basel and Zurich in Switzerland.

Gare Montparnasse – this station caters regular trains to and from the west and south-west of France.

Gare du Nord – this station caters trains to and from Belgium, Netherlands, Cologne, Germany and United Kingdom and regular trains from Northern Europe.

Gare de Lyon –this station caters  trains to and from Southern and eastern France and Switzerland.

Gare St Lazare – this station caters trains to and from Basse-Nomandie and Haute-Normandie.

There are also numerous kinds of high speed and normal trains.

TER (Regional trains): TER is sluggish, and stops at almost every station.

Corail Intercité – operates in a normal day. Its route is to and from most cities in France. This is the most excellent choice if you want to arrive to all destinations in France. If you have Eurail pass, these are the trains you’ll find yourself and doesn’t make you pay extra for reservations.

Corail Lunéa – same with the Corail Intercité but it travels during night.

TGV – These are the world-famous French high-speed trains. It travels very often to the Southeast areas.

Thalys – These are high-speed train service running daily to and from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. These are expensive trains compared to the normal ones but may avail cheaper if you buy it in advance.

Corail Téoz – same as Corail Intercité but you need to have a reservation.

Eurostar – it provides connection from Paris to London directly and Brussels indirectly. It also includes other destinations from various west European rail services but also indirectly. The estimated travel time from Paris to London is 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Intercity – trains that leaves all parts of Europe including trains that travels overnight to Spain and Portugal.

The French National Railway Authoriy (SNCF) operates all trains within France apart from Eurostar to London and the Thalys to Brussels and onward to the Netherlands and Germany. Moreover, there are few well engrossed individual who owned local lines privately. The tickets for SNCF, Eurostar and Thalys can be bought in railway stations, travel agencies and city offices. You can also book and buy in advance through the SNCF website. In this way, you can avail discounts depending on how early you booked your ticket. There are also limited choices of last minute trips that are published in the SNCF website during Tuesdays which are discounted 50% or more.

Arriving at a Paris station? See how to get around with our Paris metro tickets and passes guide.

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