BESIX France has successfully completed and handed over the Saint-Denis – Pleyel station to its client Société des grands projets, further to the approval by the Safety and Accessibility Consultative Commission. The station, designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma, is the largest out of the 68 new stations of the Grand Paris Express. It will eventually be served by lines 14, 15, 16 and 17 and is expected to handle 250,000 passengers a day by 2031.
Served from this summer by line 14, Saint-Denis – Pleyel station is an essential component of the network that will improve service to the great metropolitan region around the French capital and will also be instrumental for mobility during the Olympic Games 2024.
On time delivery for the Olympic Games
On 22 May, the Safety and Accessibility Consultative Committee of the Seine-Saint-Denis Department, regrouping the City of Saint-Denis, the Seine-Saint-Denis Prefecture, the Paris Police Prefecture, and the Paris Fire Brigade, confirmed that the various areas of the station can safely accommodate future passengers and are accessible to all. The successful approval within this Safety and Accessibility Committee signifies that the station is now technically ready and will enable the extension of metro line 14 to open in time for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. Line 14 will be essential in serving the main Olympic venues, transporting sports fans to the Athletes' Village, Olympic Aquatics Centre, Stade de France, and to Orly Airport.
Scope of works
The €115 million contract BESIX France signed with Société des grands projets encompassed all architectural, facades and technical trade, as well as all external works on the esplanade of the station. The station covers a total area of 34,000 m² spread across nine levels, four of which are underground, extending down to 28 metres below ground. Also included in the contract were all building trades of four service structures, to ensure passenger safety in case of emergencies, ventilation, and smoke extraction of the tunnels. An important challenge was also coordinating the logistics and the co-contractors’ work, including metro wagon systems and other systems related to the operation of the station (ticketing, passenger information, WiFi, and SSI systems, etc.).
A challenging deadline
The challenging deadline, being ready for the Olympic Games, also characterised this project. Construction work on the station began in mid-2020. BESIX’s involvement in the project started with no less than 10 months of coordination with both civil engineering works and tunnel equipment works (rails, catenary, etc.) already executed by the co-contractors. As the above ground structure was only completed end of August 2023, BESIX completed all the interior works, MEP installations and facade in a record time of ten months.
Andres Penaloza, Director BESIX France : “BESIX France is extremely proud to have built this major project within the great metropolitan region infrastructure. This underlines that BESIX has firm foundations and demonstrates our technical capacity in France, applying cutting-edge solutions to optimise the project in line with the client’s objectives. It is when faced with the most complex challenges, such as the construction of this station to a tight deadline, that BESIX demonstrates the greatest creativity and flexibility. Since the start, we have been striving to excel as engineers and to coordinate the many people involved in the project to ensure the station opens on time.”
Major hub
Besides being a crucial component during the Olympic Games, the Saint-Denis – Pleyel station will also play a major role in the network connecting suburban areas directly, without having to go through the city centre. The station will interconnect lines 14, 15, 16 and 17 and is the only station connecting four lines of the new metro. This will make it the busiest one among the more than 60 stations being built of the Grand Paris Express, an ambitious public transport project underway in the Île-de-France region, encompassing Paris and its surrounding areas.
