Bel-Air (Paris Métro)

Bel-Air
Tariff zone	1
Line (s)
place	Paris XII
opening	March 1, 1909

View of the station from the north

Southern mouth of the tunnel with a train arriving from Daumesnil station

Northern mouth of the tunnel with train to Nation

Class MP 73 train heading for Charles de Gaulle - Étoile , 1994

Modernized train of the MP 73 series on the platform in the direction of Charles de Gaulle - Étoile

The subway station Bel-Air is an aboveground station of the Paris Métro . It is served by Métrolinie 6 and is the only above-ground station between the Viaduc de Bercy bridge and the Nation terminus .

location

The station is located on the western edge of the Quartier du Bel-Air on its border with the Quartier de Picpus in the 12th arrondissement of Paris . It lies at ground level in the median of the Boulevard de Picpus, with which it crosses the cut of the Bastille - Marles-en-Brie railway line, which was closed in 1969 (today Coulée verte René-Dumont ). East of the metro station was the station of the same name on this railway line and the Bel-Air-Ceinture station of the Ligne de la Petite Ceinture ring line .

Surname

It is named after the Quartier du Bel-Air district. Its name can probably be traced back to a property of the same name from the 17th century there. Places with this name (bel air means "good air") exist several times in the Paris region, in the battle of Bel-Air near Le Mans in the Franco-German War on December 16, 1870, French and Prussian troops faced each other.

history

The station went into operation on March 1, 1909, when the line from Nation to Place d'Italie opened. This was the first and last newly opened section of line 6. At the beginning of the Second World War , the station was closed in 1939 and only reopened on January 7, 1963. In July 1974 line 6 was switched to operation with rubber-tired trains .

description

The station is 75 m long. It lies between the lanes of the Boulevard de Picpus, at its southern end at its level above the abandoned railway line. The northern end is a little higher because the route in the station area does not follow the slope of the street. There are entrance structures made of red brickwork that were added later on both sides and are connected to each other by a passage for pedestrians. They are marked with turquoise signs showing a white “M” in a white circle.

At the four corners of the station, a pillar protrudes over the roof for design reasons. Both side platforms are covered in full length, but the tracks in between are not. As with the train stations in the elevated position of line 6, the brick side walls are loosened up towards the outside with geometric ornaments made of bricks in two colors. On both sides of the station, the route leads over ramps into tunnels .

vehicles

Before 1974, Sprague-Thomson- type trains ran on the route . Since the conversion of line 6 to rubber-tired vehicles, trains of the MP 73 series made up of three multiple units and two sidecars have been running there .

Surroundings

• Coulée verte René-Dumont
• Rothschild Hospital
• Hôpital Armand-Trousseau Children's Hospital

Remarks

1. ↑ The route was completed in 1906, but initially not opened due to the low number of passengers expected
2. ↑ Its continuation to Étoile went into operation under line number 2 Sud between 1900 and 1906, but has only been part of line 6 since 1942
3. ↑ A railcar with a one-sided driver's cab runs at each end of the train, with a driverless cab and two non-motorized sidecars in between

Web links

Commons : Bel-Air (Paris Metro)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

• Gérard Roland: Stations de métro. D'Abbesses à Wagram . 2003, ISBN 2-86253-307-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ La promenade plantée at promenade-plantee.org, accessed on October 20, 2014.
2. ↑ Coulée verte René-Dumont (ex-Promenade Plantée) from http: //equipement.paris.fr,/ accessed on October 20, 2014.
3. ↑ Ferrovissime No. 101, p. 21.
4. ^ Gérard Roland: Stations de métro d'Abbesses à Wagram . Christine Bonneton, Clermont-Ferrand 2011, ISBN 978-2-86253-382-7 , pp. 62 .
5. ^ Brian Hardy: Paris Metro Handbook . Capital Transport Publishing, Harrow Weald 1999, ISBN 1-85414-212-7 , pp. 38 .
6. ^ Jean Tricoire: Un siècle de métro en 14 lignes. De Bienvenüe à Météor . La Vie du Rail, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-902808-87-9 , p. 211.
7. ^ Brian Hardy: op. Cit. P. 36.

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Coordinates: 48 ° 50 ′ 29 ″  N , 2 ° 24 ′ 3 ″  E