A HUGE new train station will open in the world’s most popular city break destination later this month.
Villejuif-Gustave-Roussy station in Paris will finally open on January 18.
The French station was scheduled to open in December 2024; however, the opening date was postponed.
It’s part of the Grand Paris Express project, which will see €36billion (£29.8billion) spent on introducing four new metro lines to the capital, as well as adding eight stations on a pre-existing line.
Seven new train stations opened on Line 14 last June, before the French capital hosted the Olympics and Paralympics in the summer.
Villejuif-Gustave-Roussy station will be the last station to open as part of the extension.
The huge new train station spans across nine levels and features 32 escalators and 16 lifts.
Its deepest level is nearly 50m underground and provides access to its two platforms.
Villejuif-Gustave-Roussy station was designed by architecture firm, Dominique Perrault.
The French station has a glass roof as well as ceiling artwork by Chilean artist Iván Navarro, which features 58 illuminated panels.
These features make the station look ultra-modern.
It didn’t open last summer because additional construction work was taking place to connect the station to Line 15.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”New £396million train station opens in major European city” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6366189903112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Line 15 is one of the future metro lines that’s set to open next summer.
Stretching for 30km, Line 14 is now the longest metro line in the Paris region, with the route starting from Saint-Denis – Pleyel in the north and Orly Airport in the south.
At the end of last year, Paris was named the world’s most popular city break destination by eDreams ODIGEO.
According to the research, the French capital attracted more visitors than any other in 2024.
And Paris isn’t the only city in Europe that’s getting a new train station.
At the end of last year, a new £384million train station opened in a major city – and it looks like something from Star Trek.
Belgium’s Mons Station finally opened, decades after it was first announced.
It was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, also behind the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia and the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York.
Running years behind schedule—it had hoped to open by 2012—it finally opened at the end of last year.
Another more modern beauty is Liège-Guillemins station, also in Belgium, which has a multicoloured glass roof and even features in some Hollywood blockbusters.
Here’s another new train station set to open in Europe in 2028.
