Page 91 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6

The rail traveller, pedestrian or customer?
Passenger flow and retail: critical boundary objects in HS Station development

Flow data at Gare du Nord are tremendous: at any given moment during rush hour, the number
of people within the station is around 20,000, which every day generates some 650 to 700,000
pedestrian movements or, in round figures, annual footfall of some 200 million people. Traffic
surveys forecast a 26.7% increase in passenger traffic by 2020 (up to a capacity of 25,100
travellers per day) resulting from the introduction of new and larger rolling stock. The current
750-seat TGV Eurostar is to be replaced by a 900-seat model, while the regional trains are
shifting from a capacity of 570 passengers to double decker vehicles with capacity of up to 1500
people. This increase in flows will affect the sections of the cross-platform differently: on the
western side, an additional 20% passengers will be disgorged from Eurostar and Thalys, whereas
at the eastern end, TER is likely to handle a further 34% traffic.

Figure 4 : Paris Gare du Nord facts

Building

- Date of construction (Hittorff Architect 1889 then 1900)

- Façade (and concourse) length : 180 meters
- Total surface: 80.000 m2

- Retail: 110 Stores (2015)

Frequentation

- 2012: 19.800 passengers at peak hour (Commuters 75 %)
- 2020: 25.100 passengers at peak hour (+26,7 %)
- First european station : 700.000 passengers a day / 200 millions a year

It seams clear that store distribution and commercial profitability at Gare du Nord reflects of
station's flow segmentation. The current flows account for the presence of 110 retail outlets in
the station, generating €16 million in annual revenues (excluding parking and advertising). The
retail areas are very unevenly distributed across the different levels, but the contrast between
the profitability of the levels and store types is even greater. The huge transfer lounge in the
subbasement was redesigned some 10 years ago and provides 2400 square metres of retail
space, with around forty outlets, laid out like a mall with lines of shops clustered in blocks of
two or three. There is no major plan to change the commercial dynamic in this zone, apart
from the ongoing replacement of the brands as leases come to an end. For this reason, we will
not focus on this level, nor on the basement level above, which is laid out on a street model
with ground-level shops, though there are here ambitious plans for this space (a 53% increase
in retail space, but no changes in articulation between flow and commerciality). Our interest
focuses now in the surface concourse and the Eurostar zone (level +1) living respectively 56%
and 33% increase in retail surface, and demonstrating the reciprocial optimization of flow
management and commercial optimisation techniques.

International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 89