Lyon-Part-Dieu station

Gare de la Part-Dieu (literally "Property of God" railway station) is the primary railway station of Lyon's Central Business District in France. It belongs to the Paris-Lyon-Marseille railway. Train services are mainly operated by SNCF with frequent TGV high-speed and TER regional services as well as Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn. Lyon's second railway station, Lyon-Perrache station, is located in the south of the historical centre.

History
Originally opened in 1859 as a freight station, the station was constructed in 1978 as part of the new Part-Dieu urban neighborhood project. As the planners intended Part-Dieu to act as a second city center for Lyon, the large train station was built in conjunction with a shopping center (the largest in France), a major government office complex, and the tallest skyscraper in the region, nicknamed Le Crayon (The Pencil) due to its shape. Before the construction of the Gare de la Part-Dieu, the neighborhood was served by the Gare des Brotteaux. It closed in 1982 and its operations were absorbed into this station.

Lyon-Part-Dieu is the busiest French train station outside of Île-de-France. There are five other stations operating within the city limits: Perrache (in the city center), Vaise, Saint-Paul, Gorge de Loup, and Jean Macé. The Rhônexpress tram connects Lyon-Part-Dieu to Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport, located in Colombier-Saugnieu, whose train station is only served by the high-speed train network.

In spring 2018, major reconstruction and refurbishment works began to rebuild the entire station and its near surroundings by 2022. As of December 2018, the former entrance building has been already partly torn down.

Traffic
The station has significantly surpassed its initial traffic expectations, from a moderate 35,000 passengers a day in 1983 to 80,000 passengers on 500 trains a day in 2001. Because of the increased traffic, the station was renovated from 1995–2001 to increase the number of platforms and alter the exterior. In 2010, the station served roughly 51.1 million passengers, approaching 140,000 for an average weekday.

Local transportation
Lyon Part-Dieu has direct access to the Lyon Metro (line B) and tramways T1, T3, and T4. Part-Dieu is also connected to Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport and TGV station via the dedicated Rhônexpress airport rail link.

Rail connections
Part-Dieu is a significant railway hub, connected to the French (SNCF) and international rail networks. From the many lines that run through Lyon, Part-Dieu is directly connected to Paris, Marseille, Valence, Saint-Étienne, Nice, Montpellier, Perpignan, Barcelona, Rouen, Roissy, Lille, Brussels, Geneva, Tours, Mulhouse, Belfort, Metz, Strasbourg, Nantes, Rennes, Grenoble, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Le Havre, Le Mans, Karlsruhe, Frankfurt, Milan, Turin, London. Part-Dieu also has connections to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) by TGV and has been assigned the "XYD" airport code. The SNCF offers connection services to CDG called TGV Air, under code sharing agreements with many airlines.

Current international services

 * High speed services (TGV) Brussels—Lille—Marne-la-Vallée—Lyon—Marseille
 * High speed services (TGV) Brussels—Lille—Marne-la-Vallée—Lyon—Nîmes—Montpellier-Perpignan
 * High speed services (TGV) Frankfurt—Karlsruhe—Strasbourg—Mulhouse—Besançon—Lyon—Marseille
 * High speed services (TGV) Luxembourg/Metz-Strasbourg—Mulhouse—Dijon—Lyon—Marseille/Montpellier
 * High speed services (Milan–Paris Frecciarossa) Paris—Lyon—Chambéry—Turin—Milan.
 * High speed services (AVE) Lyon—Nîmes—Montpellier—Perpignan—Barcelona
 * Local service (TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) Lyon-Part-Dieu—Ambérieu—Culoz—Bellegarde—Genève(Cornavin)

Current national services
The station is served by France's high-speed rail service, TGV, and Intercités:


 * High speed services (TGV) Paris—Lyon/Saint-Étienne
 * High speed services (FRECCIAROSSA) Paris—Lyon
 * High speed services (TGV) Lyon—Marseille-Nice
 * High speed services (TGV) Lille—Marne-la-Vallée—Lyon—Nîmes—Montpellier
 * High speed services (TGV) Lille—Arras—Marne-la-Vallée—Lyon—Nîmes—Montpellier
 * High speed services (TGV) Lille—Arras—Marne-la-Vallée—Lyon—Marseille
 * High speed services (TGV) Nancy—Strasbourg—Besançon—Dijon—Lyon—Marseille—Nice
 * High speed services (TGV) Toulouse—Montpellier—Lyon
 * High speed services (TGV) Rennes/Nantes—Massy TGV—Lyon/Marseille/Montpellier
 * High speed services (TGV) Le Havre—Rouen—Massy TGV—Lyon—Marseille
 * Intercity services (Intercités) Nantes—Tours—Bourges—Nevers—Moulins—Lyon

Current local services
Regional services offered by TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes:
 * Local service (TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) Lyon—Mâcon—Chalon-sur-Saône—Dijon—Laroche-Migennes—Sens—Paris
 * Local service (TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) Lyon—Ambérieu—Bellegarde—Genève/St Gervais-les-Bains/Evian-les-Bains
 * Local service (TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) Lyon—Ambérieu—Bourg-en-Bresse—Lons-le-Saunier—Besançon—Belfort
 * Local service (TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) Lyon—Chambéry—Bourg-Saint-Maurice/Modane
 * Local service (TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) Lyon—Vienne—Valence—Montélimar—Orange—Avignon—Miramas—Marseille
 * Local service (TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) Lyon—Tarare—Roanne—Vichy—Clermont-Ferrand
 * Local service (TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) Lyon—Givors—Saint-Étienne—Firminy
 * Local service (TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) Lyon—Lozanne—Paray-le-Monial—Saincaize—Bourges—Tours
 * Local service (TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) Lyon—Villars-les-Dombes—Bourg-en-Bresse

Projected services

 * Intercity service Bordeaux-Lyon with new cooperative operator Railcoop, planned for mid-2022