The Gare du boulevard Masséna stands before you. It is a silent sentinel on the edge of the city, a forgotten relic of Paris’s bustling past. Standing here, you might not guess that it was once a vital connection point between the city and its suburbs. The Gare du boulevard Masséna, formerly known as the Orléans-Ceinture Station, opened its doors in 1867, becoming a link for the Petite Ceinture, Paris’s inner railway ring. It offered seamless connections between the Parisian suburbs and beyond, ensuring that life flowed smoothly between urban and rural realities. The train tracks around the Gare du boulevard Masséna saw millions of people board carriages and depart for new adventures.
The Gare du boulevard Masséna, after the Petite Ceinture’s closure in 1934, served the Parisian suburbs directly from the Gare d’Austerlitz. However, its fate took an unexpected twist in 2000 when a new station opened at the Bibliothèque Nationale, a mere 300 meters away. With the opening of this new station meant the closure of the Gare du boulevard Masséna. The old station became a ghost station and its old purpose had come to an end.
The Gare du boulevard Masséna, however, has seen the tide turn in its favor. The old station was bought by the City of Paris in 2007 with grand plans for its future. This led to the development of the project “Re-energize Masséna”, which aimed to transform the station into a thriving hub of culinary delights. This ambitious project, while initially enthusiastically received, has since been revised to focus solely on the station. The towering wooden tower, originally imagined as a key component, was abandoned.
The new plan is expected to finish in 2026. The station will not only be a space for cafes and restaurants but will also be a platform for research and education in the realm of food. Perhaps as you stand before the Gare du boulevard Masséna, imagining its past, you can also anticipate a renewed future, a future filled with aromatic smells and the sounds of good conversation. And who knows, maybe in time, it will once again become a hub for connecting people.