Toulouse-Matabiau is the main railway station in
ToulouseToulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...
, southern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. It is located in the city centre and connected to the
Toulouse MetroThe Toulouse Metro serves the city of Toulouse, France, and some of the surrounding area. The city's public transport system was initially managed by Société d'économie mixte des voyageurs de l'agglomération toulousaine , which was a company that was 80% owned by local government bodies and 20%...
. Direct trains run to most parts of France, and to
AndorraAndorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of ...
.
Toulouse waited until the middle of the 19th century for the railway to arrive in the city.
In 1853, Émile Pereire and his brother Jacob founded the
CF du MidiThe Chemin de Fer du Midi, often abbreviated to CF du Midi, was an early French railway company.In 1934 it merged with the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans to become part of the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi ....
. Three years later, the line from
AgenAgen is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in Aquitaine in south-western France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. It is the capital of the department.-Economy:...
to
ToulouseToulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...
opened and was then extended from
BordeauxBordeaux-Saint-Jean or Bordeaux-Midi is a mainline and main railway station in the French city of Bordeaux.The station was on the line of the CF du Midi. The current station building opened in 1898. As well as Midi trains, the station accepted trains from the PO and Etat...
to
SèteSète is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France.Known as the Venice of Languedoc, it is a port and a sea-side resort on the Mediterranean Sea.-History:...
in 1857.
The current passenger building was built between 1903 and 1905, replacing an older and smaller building.
Toulouse-Matabiau is the main railway station in
ToulouseToulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...
, southern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. It is located in the city centre and connected to the
Toulouse MetroThe Toulouse Metro serves the city of Toulouse, France, and some of the surrounding area. The city's public transport system was initially managed by Société d'économie mixte des voyageurs de l'agglomération toulousaine , which was a company that was 80% owned by local government bodies and 20%...
. Direct trains run to most parts of France, and to
AndorraAndorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of ...
.
History
Toulouse waited until the middle of the 19th century for the railway to arrive in the city.
In 1853, Émile Pereire and his brother Jacob founded the
CF du MidiThe Chemin de Fer du Midi, often abbreviated to CF du Midi, was an early French railway company.In 1934 it merged with the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans to become part of the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi ....
. Three years later, the line from
AgenAgen is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in Aquitaine in south-western France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. It is the capital of the department.-Economy:...
to
ToulouseToulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...
opened and was then extended from
BordeauxBordeaux-Saint-Jean or Bordeaux-Midi is a mainline and main railway station in the French city of Bordeaux.The station was on the line of the CF du Midi. The current station building opened in 1898. As well as Midi trains, the station accepted trains from the PO and Etat...
to
SèteSète is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France.Known as the Venice of Languedoc, it is a port and a sea-side resort on the Mediterranean Sea.-History:...
in 1857.
The current passenger building was built between 1903 and 1905, replacing an older and smaller building. The station took the name of the borough it was situated in, an area called
Matabiau, named after Saint Saturnin, mata-bios meaning
kill the bull. It was designed by Marius Toudoire (who also designed Bordeaux Station) and was built with stone from the Roman city of
SaintesSaintes is a commune in south-western France, in the Charente-Maritime department of which it is a sub-prefecture.-History:In Roman times, the town was called Mediolanum Santonum. It was founded in about 20 BC...
. Like the Midi station in
Bordeauxis a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department...
, Matabiau station bears 26
coats of armsA coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways. Historically, they were used by knights to identify them apart from enemy...
on the front of the building of the 26 destinations that Midi served.
Some work was carried out on the building in 1938 prior to it being listed.
Layout
The station is centred around two main concourses at the front of the station directly linked to each other, with ticket offices, shops and cafés. Underpasses link these concourses to the platforms. The station is connected to the underground
Marengo SNCF station on Line A of the Toulouse Metro, accessible from inside and just outside the station.
Destinations
Toulouse-Matabiau is situated at the heart of a six-branch star network of lines with both
regionalSuburban commuter railroad or commuter railway a passenger rail transport service between a city center, and outer suburbs and commuter towns or other locations that draw large numbers of commuters—people who travel on a daily basis. Trains operate following a schedule, at speeds varying from 50 to...
(
TERTer can refer to the following:* River Ter, in Essex* Ter , in Catalonia* ter, a suffix designating the third instance of a thing, thus following bis* Torre , or Ter in Slovene, a river in Italy...
) and
nationalInter-city rail services are express train passenger services which cover longer distances than commuter or regional trains.There is no clear definition of Inter-city rail. Most broadly, it includes all rail service except short distance commuter rail within one city area and slow regional rail...
(
TGVThe TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by VFE, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator. It was developed during the 1970s by GEC-Alsthom and SNCF, and is now operated primarily by SNCF...
and
CorailCorail is the name given to a class of passenger rail cars of the SNCF that first entered commercial service in 1975. When introduced, Corail carriages featured air-conditioning, and superior levels of comfort, suspension and sound-proofing than previous InterCity carriages and gave arguably the...
) services.
Toulouse is served by the following regional lines:
- Toulouse-Montauban
Montauban is a town and commune of south-western France, préfecture of the Tarn-et-Garonne département, north of Toulouse....
- Toulouse-Saint-Sulpice
Saint-Sulpice may mean:*The saints:**Sulpicius Severus , who wrote the earliest biography of Saint Martin of Tours.**Sulpitius the Pious Saint-Sulpice may mean:*The saints:**Sulpicius Severus (c. 360 - c. 420), who wrote the earliest biography of Saint Martin of Tours.**Sulpitius the Pious...
- Toulouse-Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a fortified French town in the Aude département, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc.It is separated into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse...
- Toulouse-Tarbes
Tarbes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.It is part of the historical region of Gascony. It is the second largest metropolitan area of Midi-Pyrénées, with 110,000 inhabitants....
and BayonneBayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture....
- Toulouse-Foix
Foix is a commune, the capital of the Ariège département in France. It is the least populous administrative centre of a département in all of France , although it is only very slightly smaller than Privas...
- Toulouse-Auch
Auch is a commune in south-western France. Located in the region of Midi-Pyrénées, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony. At the 1999 census there were 24,725 inhabitants in the urban area of Auch.-The Ausci:Auch is a very ancient town...
Several
SNCFSNCF is a French public enterprise. Its functions include operation of rail services for passengers and freight, and maintenance and signalling of rail infrastructure owned by Réseau Ferré de France . It employs about 180,000 people...
facilities are present near the station, including the old Toulouse-Raynal goods yard now a carriage and engine maintenance yard and the large
Saint-Jory Saint-Jory is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in south-western France.The Château de Saint-Jory is a 16th century castle which is listed as a historic monument by the French Ministry of Culture.-References:*...
marshalling yard to the north.
Gallery