The inauguration of the future Saint-Denis-Pleyel station is still some way off, but the press was out in force on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 to visit the construction site, which began over 6 years ago and is now almost complete. Even Japanese journalists made the trip for the occasion. The Saint-Denis-Pleyel station, the next new northern terminus of line 14, will be a 10-15 minute walk from the Stade de France, a key venue for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. France's largest stadium will be easily accessible thanks to the Franchissement Urbain Pleyel, inaugurated on May 16. This 700-metre-long footbridge is heralded as an"essential link for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games".
The extension of line 14 to the north and south, which will see the opening of 8 new stations including Saint-Denis-Pleyel, is scheduled to go into service at the end of June 2024, just before the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. The official inauguration date of this future station will depend on the safety commission, which is scheduled to pass through on May 22.
In the meantime, the Saint-Denis-Pleyel station is carrying out the final finishing touches, as well as cleaning operations and smoke extraction drills. The dry run began on May 13 and will continue until the extension is officially commissioned.
In the meantime, we were invited to descend to a depth of 28 meters to discover this new station, heralded as a veritable "connection node" for public transport in the Paris region. While line 14 will be running here from the end of June, other lines of the Grand Paris Express will also stop here, including future lines 15, 16 and 17. According to Mathieu Mallet, Project Director in charge of coordinating the Saint-Denis-Pleyel station worksite, some 250,000 users are expected to use the station every day when all lines are in operation. At the time of its opening and during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, around 40,000 passengers per day are expected, at a rate of 2,500 people per hour.
Before descending underground, we discover the exterior of the Saint-Denis-Pleyel station, where 5,000 m² of cultural spaces are planned. We also venture a little further to discover the famous Franchissement Urbain Pleyel, which you'll need to use to get to the nearby RER D train station or the Stade de France.
We then head for the lowest level, -4, where the docks are located at a depth of 28 meters. Here we discover illustrations by Sergio Sanchez. In his 45-meter-long drawings, the Spanish artist evokes hip-hop culture, graffiti and the impact of the Olympic Games on the area. On the platforms of line 14, signage and benches have also been installed, ready to welcome future passengers.
We gradually climb back up to reach the atrium, an incredible space where we become truly aware of the immensity of this station and the work carried out by the site workers. In a few figures, 500 journeymen worked daily on this gigantic site at its peak, compared with around 200 today. As proof of the sheer size of the site, almost 500,000 m3 of earth were excavated, equivalent to the volume of 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools!
The number of escalators (56) and elevators (17) is equally impressive. Saint-Denis-Pleyel is billed as the " Châtelet of northern Paris ". The widest station of the Grand Paris Express, Saint-Denis-Pleyel has fewer escalators than Châtelet-les-Halles, where there are some 50 for a daily flow of 700,000 passengers.
Saint-Denis-Pleyel isn't the deepest station either (that title is held by the future Saint-Maur - Créteil station, with platforms at a depth of 52 m), but it's got plenty to talk about: a 100% accessible station, a 35-meter-high building with 5 above-ground levels and 4 underground levels, 20,000m² of passenger areas, 1,000 m² of shops and public amenities, 14,000 m² of technical premises and 5,000 m² of cultural space, as well as 3,750m² of glass facade...
And then, of course, there's the impressive architecture by Japan's Kengo Kuma. Conceived as " an origami bathed in light ", the architecture is impressive, thanks in particular to the 4,000 linear meters of trapezoidal slats of natural oak wood on the exterior façade, and the incredible central skylight that extends the full height of the building.
Note that the work of art created by Prune Nourry for this Saint-Denis-Pleyel station will not be unveiled until much later. By 2026, passengers will be able to admire 108 Venuses, each 1.70 m high. Inspired by Paleolithic feminine representations, they will be suspended in the station's atrium.
For the time being, only the tracks of line 14 are ready to welcome future passengers. From the end of June 2024, it will be possible to reach Aéroport d'Orly station from Saint-Denis-Pleyel station in just 40 minutes, compared with almost an hour and a half at present. Later, 3 other Grand Paris Express lines will intersect here. In detail, lines 16 and 17 will pass through the station as early as 2026, while the arrival of line 15 trains at Saint-Denis-Pleyel station is scheduled for 2031.
Line 14, Paris's famous fully automatic line, will be the first to run to Saint-Denis-Pleyel station. Inauguration of the extension is scheduled for the end of June 2024, with the opening of 7 new stations. The Villejuif - Gustave Roussy station, connecting with line 15, will not open until the end of 2024. So, for several months, line 14 will pass through this station, but will not stop there.
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