Montparnasse – Bienvenüe (Paris Métro)

Montparnasse – Bienvenüe
Paris Métro station
Location	59 bis, 71, 73, boul. du Montparnasse Rue de l'Arrivée, mall Tour Maine Montparnasse Gare Montparnasse 31, av. du Maine 2, pl. Bienvenüe 1/3, rue du Départ 14th arrondissement of Paris Île-de-France France
Coordinates	48°50′36″N 2°19′23″E / 48.843466°N 2.323072°ECoordinates: 48°50′36″N 2°19′23″E / 48.843466°N 2.323072°E
Owned by	RATP
Operated by	RATP
Other information
Fare zone	1
History
Opened	24 April 1906
Services
Preceding station   Paris Métro   Following station Vavin toward Mairie de Montrouge Saint-Placide toward Porte de Clignancourt Pasteur toward Charles de Gaulle – Étoile Edgar Quinet toward Nation Falguière toward Mairie d'Issy Notre-Dame-des-Champs toward Front Populaire Gaîté toward Châtillon – Montrouge Duroc toward Asnières – Gennevilliers – Les Courtilles or Saint-Denis – Université
Location
Montparnasse – Bienvenüe Location within Paris

Montparnasse – Bienvenüe (French pronunciation: ​[mɔ̃paʁnas bjɛ̃vəny]) is a station of the Paris Métro which is a transfer point between lines 4, 6, 12 and 13. It is the fourth busiest station on the metro system and is located in Montparnasse at the intersection of the 6th, 14th and 15th arrondissements.

Location

Montparnasse – Bienvenüe station is located at the intersection of the 6th, 14th, and 15th arrondissements of Paris. Nearby are the Montparnasse district, the Tour Montparnasse office tower, the Musée Bourdelle (art museum), the Montparnasse Cemetery, the Musée de La Poste (postal museum) and the Jardin Atlantique (a rooftop garden on the roof of the Gare Montparnasse).

History

On 24 April 1906 the station opened as Montparnasse station in the Avenue du Maine at the southern end of the old Gare Montparnasse (at the site currently occupied by the Tour Montparnasse, before it was moved south of the Avenue du Maine in the 1960s) with the opening of the extension of line 2 Sud from Passy to Place d'Italie. On 14 October 1907 line 2 Sud became part of line 5. On 11 March 1910 the Montparnasse station was renamed Avenue du Maine and on 30 June 1933 it was renamed Bienvenüe in honour of the principal engineer of the Paris Métro, Fulgence Bienvenüe (accounting for the unusual diaeresis in the station's name). On 12 October 1942 the section of line 5 between Étoile and Place d'Italie, including Bienvenüe was transferred from line 5 to line 6 in order to separate the underground and elevated sections of the metro (because the latter were more vulnerable to air attack during World War II).

The line 4 platforms opened as Montparnasse in the Boulevard du Montparnasse, near the main entrance of the old Gare Montparnasse (on its northern side) on 9 January 1910 as part of the connecting section of the line under the Seine between Châtelet and Raspail. The line 12 platforms were opened in the Boulevard du Montparnasse on 5 November 1910 as part of the first section of the Nord-Sud Company's line C from Porte de Versailles to Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. This line was taken over by the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris and was renamed line 12 on 27 March 1931. In 1913 a connection was opened between the platforms of lines 4 and line 12 situated on the Boulevard du Montparnasse, both called Montparnasse.

The line 13 platforms opened in the Avenue du Maine as Bienvenüe on 21 January 1937 as part of the original line 14 between Bienvenüe and Porte de Vanves and was connected to the line 5 platforms. This line became part of line 13 on 9 November 1976.

Connecting the southern and northern stations

At the end of the 1930s, a long corridor was built to connect the Montparnasse and Bienvenüe stations. Accordingly, the stations' names were fused to create the one now known as Montparnasse-Bienvenüe on 6 October 1942. This long corridor is now equipped with moving walkways to facilitate access between the two parts of the Métro station. The old Bienvenüe station serves lines 6 and 13, while the old Montparnasse station serves lines 4 and 12.

In 2002, in an experimental move, the RATP installed a moving walkway that moved at 12 km/h, which was then termed the "fastest in the world." (The speed has however since been reduced to 9 km/h). The first several metres consist of metal rollers that accelerate passengers as they hold onto the handrail, because it would be dangerous to step directly onto the fast-moving conveyor. However, RATP announced in May 2009 that they would replace the walkway with an ordinary one in March 2011 in response to 'numerous customer complaints concerning safety and unreliability'.

Barrière du Maine

The southern part of the station in the Avenue du Maine was the location of the Barrière du Maine, a gate built for the collection of taxation as part of the Wall of the Farmers-General; the gate was built between 1784 and 1788 and demolished in the nineteenth century.^[1][2]

Layout

The lines are connected by passageways and mezzanines.

The layouts are ordered by the line number.

Line 4

Side platform, doors will open on the right
Northbound	← toward Porte de Clignancourt (Saint-Placide)
Southbound	→ toward Mairie de Montrouge (Vavin) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right

Line 6

Side platform, doors will open on the right
Westbound	← toward Charles de Gaulle – Étoile (Pasteur)
Eastbound	→ toward Nation (Edgar Quinet) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right

Line 12

Side platform, doors will open on the right
Southbound	← toward Mairie d'Issy (Falguière)
Northbound	→ toward Front Populaire (Notre-Dame-des-Champs) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right

Line 13

Side platform, doors will open on the right
Northbound	← toward Asnières – Gennevilliers – Les Courtilles or Saint-Denis – Université (Duroc)
Southbound	→ toward Châtillon – Montrouge (Gaîté) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right

Gallery

• 

  Line 4 platforms at Montparnasse – Bienvenüe

• 

  Line 6 platforms at Montparnasse – Bienvenüe

• 

  MP 73 rolling stock on Line 6 at Montparnasse – Bienvenüe

• 

  Line 12 platforms at Montparnasse – Bienvenüe

• 

  Line 13 platforms at Montparnasse – Bienvenüe

• 

  The new walkway during its experimentation phase

• 

  Connection between Lines 4 and 12

References

1. "Barrière du Maine, picture" (in French). Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
2. "Barrière du Maine" (in French). Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved 19 December 2009.