The former terminus of line 5 has become a training center for RATP (©Wikicommons)
If Gare du Nord is the busiest metro station in the RATP network, with 159,000 daily users, there is another one nearby that is much quieter, hidden from the outside world. One of those ghost stations in the capital that no longer welcomes the public.
A metro platform more real than life
Gare du Nord USFRT (Specialized Unit for Training and Regulation of Transport) is the name given to the former Gare du Nord terminus of line 5, before it was extended northeast in 1942.
Located under Boulevard de Denain, it became a ghost station when line 5 was extended to Pantin. It no longer met the needs: it had to be either heavily modified or a new station had to be built. The second solution was chosen.
Disused, it served as a storage facility in the 1940s before becoming the training center for RATP metro drivers. Outside, if access to the metro is blocked by a door at the bottom of the stairs, a sign “training center” reminds visitors of the new activity taking place in the area.
Two other entrances to the north of the boulevard are open to the public. They lead to the former connecting corridor.
Now, train operators train there in simulated situations. It appears that it now has a new name, visible on the realistically designed training platform: Bastille.
