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Baron, Nacima.

less than a transformation of the fundation of railway activity. By applying new flow streaming
principles to station spaces, the company is no more as manager of a major asset burden (2
billion square metres) but a firm specialisd in harvesting pedestrians and generating profits
from their movement (Baron N., Roseau N., 2016).

3. Intensification of traffic flows and commercial potential in Gare du Nord

3.1 Gare du Nord : socio-spatial assessment

Gare du Nord is a transport hub that offers a wide variety of lines and rail provision: regional
trains, high-speed trains, intercity and interregional trains, regional express network (RER) and
metro. The station’s most recent aboveground architectural changes coincided with the arrival
of high-speed rail in the 1990s: TGV to Lille in 1991, Eurostar service for the link with England
in 1994, then Thalys in 1996 to cities in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. In the early
2000's, further redevelopment was carried out on the western part of the station, its facade
and basement, in order to facilitate the connection with the RER and the Metro, with the
inauguration of a shopping street at basement level (level -1), and a big transfer lounge in the
sub-basement (Level -2). This reinforced the vertical structure of the station into four levels
open to passengers, two (first floor and sub-basement) accessible following ticketing controls,
the other two (surface and level -1) free access. Gare du Nord is mainly a commuting station,
(75% day dwellers) many of them moving between different types of rail service. As a result,
there is intense vertical and horizontal movement between the four levels, particularly at rush
hour, although not creating a universal mix. On the contrary, the occupancy and movement
regimes in the station’s different levels are socially very distinct: the top level, set aside for
the cross-channel train, is occupied by international customers, with large spending capacity,
whereas the two underground levels are used by regional commuters from the northern suburbs,
the poorest in Ile-de-France. The surface hall distributing passengers west to east towards the
Thalys, TGV, Intercity and TER regional express trains is, technically therefore used by the
widest range of customers (leisure, business, commuters, locals), whether boarding at this
level or passing through to move to another level.

Figure 3. The vertical structure of Paris Gare du Nord. View of the concourse (level 0),
mix of retail facilites and passenger stair to Eurostar boarding in foreground. In the
bakcground, main information pannel, removed in 2015.

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