1840 station The Gare d'Austerlitz was the main station in Paris for the Paris-Orléans (PO) company and was originally called the Gare d'Orléans station. The station is near the Quai d'Austerlitz, and the bridge that gives it its name. These were named after the
Czech town once known as Austerlitz (today
Slavkov u Brna).
Napoleon I defeated the
Third Coalition there on 2 December 1805 at the
Battle of Austerlitz. Built from 1838, the first platform was built slightly back from the current location of the station by the architect Félix-Emmanuel Callet and began service on 20 September 1840, on the occasion of the opening of the Paris-Corbeil line, which was extended to Orléans in May 1843. Part of the rue Poliveau was cut by this construction, and another part, located near the
Seine, took the name of rue Jouffroy. The first expansion took place in 1846.
1867 station Once demolished, the station was rebuilt between 1862 and 1869, It included a large iron
train shed, wide and long (the second largest in France after Bordeaux), designed by Ferdinand Mathieu and carried out by the construction workshops of
Schneider & Co at
Le Creusot and
Chalon-sur-Saône. On 28 February 1997, parts of the Gare d'Austerlitz were classified as
monuments historiques, especially its facades and glass roof.
Future A large refurbishment project of the Paris Austerlitz is currently under way. Four new platforms are being constructed and all the existing tracks are being refurbished. The interior will be rebuilt in order to handle
LGV Sud-Est and
LGV Atlantique services, partially transferred from the
Gare de Lyon and
Gare Montparnasse, both of which are at maximum capacity. All the work is planned to be completed by 2020, and will double the activity at the station. ==Train services==