VIDEO. This ghost metro station in Paris, suddenly closed, never reopened
By Thomas Martin
Published on
Some “ghost” metro stations of Paris have never seen a single traveller. Others, on the contrary, were in operation when it was decided to close them and never reopen them afterwards. This is the case of the Red Cross stationlocated in the 6th arrondissement, between the RATP stations Sèvres – Babylone and Mabillon.
Clip shooting and naughty location
This station was abruptly closed at the beginning of September 1939, when France entered the Second World War and the mobilization of the agents of the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris (CMP).
And since then, it has never been reopened, due to too close proximity to the Sèvres – Babylone station. If the old accesses were closed, the Red Cross station has nevertheless had a life since.
In the 1950s, it was thus used to promote Parisian theaters, then, in the 1980s, it was surprisingly decorated on the beach for the pleasure of passengers on line 10. In 1984, Etienne Daho came to film there the clip for the song Weekend in Rome.
At the end of the 2000s, she was also dressed in a naughty place on the occasion of an exhibition at the BNF.
A trendy place project that falls through
A project was then to see the light of day to make it one of the trendiest places in the capital: a restaurant area was to extend over the two platforms of the station in addition to a 600m² gourmet hall. Among the partners were the famous Ferrandi school, the Brûlerie de Paris, the Petit ballon, the Syndicate or the anti-waste of Too good to go.
The opening, scheduled for 2024, will ultimately not take place, Novaxia and the RATP having backtracked.
“The RATP was excessively reluctant, explained Jean-Pierre Lecoq, the mayor of the 6th arrondissement, to Actu Paris, in December 2021. The drivers of the line 10 metro were not in favor of the idea because night use of the Red Cross station would have been a source of nuisance for them. These professionals must rely on light signals which are already very numerous in the basement so any addition of signal is incongruous and can create safety problems.
It would also have been necessary to recreate additional exits to access the platforms offered an investment of at least five million euros.
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