RER commuter rail station | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Station entrance
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Location | Paris, Île-de-France, France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 48°51′40″N 2°20′49″E / 48.861°N 2.347°E | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owned by | RATP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Platforms | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fare zone | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 9 December 1977 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Châtelet – Les Halles is the major commuter train hub in Paris and the largest underground station in the world. It is directly connected with the Paris Métro stations Châtelet and Les Halles. Taken together they host 750,000 travellers per weekday (including interchanges), 493,000 for the RER only. It is named after the Châtelet monument and the former market of Les Halles.
The station is served by lines A, B, and D of the RER, and is therefore directly accessible from many stations in Île-de-France. It forms a large underground network with the Châtelet and Les Halles Métro stations. This network brings together three of the five RER lines and five Métro lines, and is the central node of the network of transit of the Ile-de-France metropolitan area. Every day, 750,000 travelers pass through Châtelet–Les Halles, including 493,000 just for the RER. At peak hours, the station can see 120 trains in just one hour.
Châtelet–Les Halles is also the station where the second stage of the RATP-managed IMAGE project was installed. It consists in 10 flat screens which provide local traffic information (next trains, traffic conditions, delays, etc.) from all carriers (RATP, SNCF, etc.) and will eventually replace the information systems of the individual carriers.
The tracks of the three RER lines are all oriented parallel in an east–west direction. The seven tracks are grouped on four platforms. Both central platforms are reserved for Line D. The benefit is that same-direction connections between RER A and RER B can be made across the same platform, while that RER D trains which terminate at Châtelet – Les Halles can use the centre track.