La Défense station (French pronunciation: [la defɑ̃s]) is a station of the Transilien (Réseau Saint-Lazare) suburban rail lines, the RER A and RER E commuter rail lines, and Line 1 of the Paris Métro, as well as a stop on the Île-de-France tramway Line 2. In the future, the station will also be served by Paris Metro Line 15, part of the Grand Paris Express transit project. It is located underneath the Grande Arche in La Défense, the business district located to the west of Paris.
A temporary station on the site was first completed in April 1959 in order to serve the newly-built Centre of New Industries and Technologies (CNIT); initially, the station was served solely by a special event-only SNCF service before the opening of the RER A link on 19 January 1970 (1970-01-19). Paris Metro services came to the station with the opening of the Line 1 extension to Pont de Neuilly on 1 April 1992, while RER E services commenced with the opening of the line's extension to Nanterre–La Folie on 6 May 2024.
Highlights on the surface nearby include the monumental Grande Arche, skyscrapers that host the headquarters of several major French and foreign companies, and works of urban art such as Le Pouce by César Baldaccini. From the central esplanade, the Arc de Triomphe can be viewed down the Axe historique. Like the district it serves, the station takes its name from the 19th-century statue La Défense de Paris, commemorating the Franco-Prussian War.
Contents
Passenger services
Access
The station is built around the Cœur Transport interchange complex, a multimodal hub containing the RER A station, the Transilien station, the station of line 1 of the Paris metro, the station of the T2 tramway and a bus station. The central area consists of a large passenger hall with an SNCF ticket office, numerous RATP ticket offices, and various retail concessions. The complex is directly connected to the Les Quatre Temps shopping center and the Centre of New Industries and Technologies (CNIT). The other primary structure of the station is the salle des colonnes (lit. 'column room'), which provides direct access to the Transilien platforms.
While most of the entrances lead to the interchange complex, there are several entrances to individual platforms; an entrance located on Place Carpeaux leads directly to the tram station (as well as, indirectly, to the Transilien station via an underpass). The RER E station has three external accesses: from the forecourt of the Grande Arche, in the CNIT (called La faille) and on Avenue Gambetta in Courbevoie. It is connected from its mezzanine to the Cœur Transport via the CNIT. Direct access is also available to the RER A station and to the Transilien/tramway station thanks to two separate underground corridors. Lifts allow access to the various stations for people with reduced mobility.
Internet access via Wi-Fi is available throughout the station.
Station layout
Note: The two side platforms for Metro Line 1 are located some distance apart, as opposed to one island platform.
Services
RER Line A and Line E
Paris St Lazare Group III :
SNCF Gare Saint-Lazare – St Nom la Breteche–Forêt de Marly
SNCF Gare Saint-Lazare – Versailles Rive Droite
SNCF La Défense – La Verrière
Île-de-France tramway Line 2
There are four platforms in the Transilien station :
In the morning:
Platforms 1 and 3 are used for PSL Group III lines to Paris
Platform 2 is used for PSL Group III lines to Versailles Rive Droite / St Nom la Breteche – Forêt de Marly
Platform 4 is used for La Défense – La Verrière line
In the afternoon:
Platform 1 is used for PSL Group III lines to Paris
Platforms 2 and 4 are used for PSL Group III lines to Versailles Rive Droite / St Nom la Breteche – Forêt de Marly
Platform 3 is used for La Défense – La Verrière line
The RATP bus station has a particularity: passengers wait in a long hall in front of automatic doors that open when the buses arrive. The bus station and the Jules-Verne Terminal are served by :
lines 73, 141, 144, 159, 174, 178, 258, 275, 276, 278 and 360 of the RATP bus network;
In popular culture
The 1979 French film Buffet froid begins at La Défense station.