Gare du Nord to Montparnasse tomorrow lunchtime.

Ian99 · 9 Aug 2019

I have an hour or so - assuming that the Eurostar arrives on time at 1147 - to get to Paris Montparnasse at 1252 from Gare du Nord tomorrow.

Does anyone have any thoughts bearing in mind that I have received an email from SNCF stating:

- We draw your attention on the interruption of traffic between Trocadéro and
> Montparnasse Bienvenüe stations on metro line 6 due to maintenance work.
> Bus services are organized by RATP on this route.

I can use Google Maps for an alternative route but if anyone has any input on this, it would be good to hear.

RailUK Forums

LNW-GW Joint · 9 Aug 2019

It's a while since I navigated the Paris Metro, but wouldn't line 4 be the best route to Montparnasse from Gare du Nord?

AlbertBeale · 9 Aug 2019

LNW-GW Joint said:
It's a while since I navigated the Paris Metro, but wouldn't line 4 be the best route to Montparnasse from Gare du Nord?

Some friends of mine had a little-more-than-an-hour connection from Nord to Montparnasse TGV recently. It is feasible by metro. (Line 4, I think, not 6, as has been pointed out.) However, remember that the metro at Montparnasse isn't really in the same place as the station, and it's a hike through miles of corridors; and (as I remember it, from a while back now) especially so if you want the TGV lines, which have a quite separate station. So it can be a bit of a scramble. (Is it the TGV you're getting?)

Assuming the hour is deemed normally sufficient, then if the Eurostar arrival is significantly delayed, get your onward tickets endorsed by the Eurostar staff on the train - that should mean you'll be accepted on a later departure from Paris by SNCF.

Incidentally, if you had more time, note that the new bus route from Nord station to Lyon (different from the one before the bus changes this year) also continues to both of the Montparnasse stations. It's the 91; but the end-to-end time Nord-Montparnasse would probably be close to an hour, so it's not worth the risk in your case. You'll need to dive on the metro and hoof it at the other end.

I suspect the message from SNCF about the metro works is a courtesy to everyone relevant that they have details for - it doesn't seem to relate specifically to your journey.

30907 · 9 Aug 2019

The 91 takes something like 90min, I checked it out recently before deciding to face the underground passages. Montparnasse itself is a bit of a building site ATM.
However, it may be that RER B plus Metro 6 (open!) is actually less walking, changing at Denfert-Rochereau. ISTR a journey planner recommending a route involving RER but can't remember the detail.

SHD · 10 Aug 2019

RER B + Line 6 is indeed the best option. It avoids the long trek from the Line 4 platforms to the main concourse at Montparnasse.
Alternatively, it is much more pleasant (unless it is raining) to exit the Line 4 metro station at Montparnasse and walk to the train station’s main entrance.

exile · 10 Aug 2019

Whenever I've had to do this I've used RER B then line 6 as suggested.

AlbertBeale · 10 Aug 2019

exile said:
Whenever I've had to do this I've used RER B then line 6 as suggested.

For those people who find some of the RER lines a bit too in-yer-face at times, there's also the option of line 5, changing to line 6 at Place d'Italie (which I think is a fairly easy interchange). That, similarly, gets you to the railway at Montparnsse with less of a trek through walkways, thus avoiding the main problem with the (nominally) direct line 4. No doubt a bit slower than the route via the RER, but much swifter than the bus.

TRAX · 11 Aug 2019

You’d be better off taking line 4 as it’s direct. Lines B and 6 is also an option but there too you’ll have transfer corridors to manage, with no lifts if you have luggage.

SHD · 11 Aug 2019

AlbertBeale said:
For those people who find some of the RER lines a bit too in-yer-face at times, there's also the option of line 5, changing to line 6 at Place d'Italie (which I think is a fairly easy interchange). That, similarly, gets you to the railway at Montparnsse with less of a trek through walkways, thus avoiding the main problem with the (nominally) direct line 4. No doubt a bit slower than the route via the RER, but much swifter than the bus.

Line 5 at Gare du Nord is at least as much in-yer-face as RER B, though. For what it’s worth, until 1942, metro lines had a different setup: “line 5” from Étoile to Gare du Nord and “line 6” from Place d’Italie to Nation. In 1942, the extension from Gare du Nord to Église de Pantin was opened (works had begun before the war), the former Gare du Nord terminus station was abandoned, and the junctions at Place d’Italie reconfigured.

I’ve lived literally above Montparnasse for 25 years and could negotiate the metro station with a blindfold :smile:

30907 · 11 Aug 2019

TRAX said:
You’d be better off taking line 4 as it’s direct. Lines B and 6 is also an option but there too you’ll have transfer corridors to manage, with no lifts if you have luggage.

Line 4 isn't exactly step free either, as we discovered recently.

AlbertBeale · 11 Aug 2019

TRAX said:
You’d be better off taking line 4 as it’s direct. Lines B and 6 is also an option but there too you’ll have transfer corridors to manage, with no lifts if you have luggage.

Line 4 is "direct", but to a metro station that's half a mile through corridors from Montparnasse SNCF. One (more normal) interchange on the way to closer to where you're going is, in my experience, far less hassle than line 4 to the wrong place.

But either way, Nord-Montparnasse isn't the easiest or quickest interchange! And I guess if you get used to one route, then that's the "easiest" for you.

ashkeba · 11 Aug 2019

TRAX said:
You’d be better off taking line 4 as it’s direct. Lines B and 6 is also an option but there too you’ll have transfer corridors to manage, with no lifts if you have luggage.

RER B to Port Royal then bus 91 to Montparnasse may be easiest with luggage. 4 to 7 mins between buses according to https://outilanticipation.nouveaureseaubusparisien.fr/ligne/91

Bus 91 is a direct connection but probably slow.

SHD · 11 Aug 2019

AlbertBeale said:
Line 4 is "direct", but to a metro station that's half a mile through corridors from Montparnasse SNCF. One (more normal) interchange on the way to closer to where you're going is, in my experience, far less hassle than line 4 to the wrong place.

But either way, Nord-Montparnasse isn't the easiest or quickest interchange! And I guess if you get used to one route, then that's the "easiest" for you.

As I wrote earlier, it is quite easier - weather permitting - to walk this “half-mile” outside on the Rue du Départ. Exiting Line 4’s Montparnasse southbound platform towards the surface is very straightforward and involves a short set of stairs and an escalator.

(And for those who wonder why Montparnasse metro station for lines 4 and 12 is so far away from the train station, remember that Montparnasse is not where it used to be)

AlbertBeale · 11 Aug 2019

ashkeba said:
RER B to Port Royal then bus 91 to Montparnasse may be easiest with luggage. 4 to 7 mins between buses according to https://outilanticipation.nouveaureseaubusparisien.fr/ligne/91

Bus 91 is a direct connection but probably slow.

I suggested earlier that the 91 bus direct from Nord, which goes to both the regular Monrparnasse and the separate TGV station, might be a slower but easier option though taking up to an hour; a response said it would be more like 90 minutes.

But your suggestion here of RER most of the way, to Port Royal, plus a short hop on the 91 right to where you're going, sounds a helpful combination of speed and convenience.

SHD · 11 Aug 2019

I guess that by “separate TGV station” you mean the Pasteur hall. Note that users of Ouigo services _must_ use this hall.

AlbertBeale · 11 Aug 2019

SHD said:
I guess that by “separate TGV station” you mean the Pasteur hall. Note that users of Ouigo services _must_ use this hall.

I'd remembered - admittedly from some years back - that the "ordinary" and TGV stations were somewhat separate... certainly the 91 bus routes shows separate stops for Gare Montparnasse and Gare Montparnasse TGV.

And I'd thought I remembered that the walk down passages from metro line 4 to the station was even longer for reaching the TGV than the regular station.

But my memory could even be fallible....

SHD · 11 Aug 2019

Indeed, the Pasteur Hall (a concourse “within” the massive concrete slab that sits above the tracks since the early 1990s, approximately 200 m from the main concourse) is where the terminus of bus 91 was relocated. And this terminus is indeed named “Montparnasse 2 Gare TGV” although the Pasteur Hall was not per se dedicated to TGVs - all platforms are accessible from the Pasteur hall, including suburban services, and TGVs have always been accessible from the main concourse.

For a short time last year, it was decided to dedicate the Pasteur hall to Ouigo services (i.e. prohibit platform access from Pasteur for users of regular TGVs, suburban, or TER services) but this was hopefully quickly abandoned.

TRAX · 11 Aug 2019

30907 said:
Line 4 isn't exactly step free either, as we discovered recently.

Only 9 metro stations out of 303 are step-free.

30907 · 11 Aug 2019

TRAX said:
Only 9 metro stations out of 303 are step-free.

Agreed, but there's step-free and step-free - and the subway route to 4 at Montparnasse seemed to have lots of short stairways. I'll test the surface route suggested by SHD next time...

30907 · 6 Sep 2019

Having just done the Line 4 option from Nord to Montparnasse, a couple of points to add:
1. Line 4 is the easiest route to find from the Eurostar platforms - first escalator, first lot of ticket machines (green Ile-de-France ones to right), first corridor on right. 8 mins from coach 14 to boarding train without rushing.
2. Domestic misunderstanding meant we followed the underground route. Easier than I remembered. Total time from coach 14 to boarding TGV just over 30 minutes.

tornado · 21 Jul 2020

Hi, sorry to resurrect this thread but can anyone recommend a route from Gare du Nord to Gare Montparnasse TGV which is the quietest possible?

I will be travelling with an elderly but fit uncle, with light luggage, and want to avoid crowded enclosed spaces as much as possible due to COVID. Taxis are a no-go. It's a 3.8 mile walk which is do-able, but if there is a quiet metro / quiet RER section which would avoid us having to walk the whole way that would be great?

We have ample time, so don't mind a circuitous route, as a straight walk would take us one and a quarter hours anyway. Somewhere nice to stop for lunch might be good too.

(I have considered travelling via Lille towards Bordeaux which avoids Paris but slower and pricey)

Peter Mugridge · 21 Jul 2020

Metro Line 4 is direct from Gare du Nord to Montparnasse, 13 stops so about 15 minutes, but I have no idea how busy it'll be at the moment. The time of day would have an effect as well - it'll be quieter for the midday hours that in the morning or evening.

tornado · 21 Jul 2020

We will be crossing Paris around lunchtime/early afternoon. According to wikipedia line 4 is the busiest on the network, but I guess crowding can depend on many things such as frequency of trains, length of trains etc. Even getting on and off at quieter stations might help. As I said, we don't mind walking part of the way.

30907 · 21 Jul 2020

Peter Mugridge said:
Metro Line 4 is direct from Gare du Nord to Montparnasse, 13 stops so about 15 minutes, but I have no idea how busy it'll be at the moment. The time of day would have an effect as well - it'll be quieter for the midday hours that in the morning or evening.

In normal times it is busy all day (not sure about August!) but very easy to find at GdN and you can exit to surface at Montparnasse to avoid the subways.

TRAX · 21 Jul 2020

Line 4 is indeed your best option, but as it is the second busiest line on the network, you might want to avoid it during rush hours (and it's not an especially friendly line either).

ashkeba · 21 Jul 2020

TRAX said:
Line 4 is indeed your best option, but as it is the second busiest line on the network, you might want to avoid it during rush hours (and it's not an especially friendly line either).

Why not RER B and walk a bit? RER trains seem much bigger.

tornado · 21 Jul 2020

Further up it says RER is just as crowded.

I'm thinking walking 19 minutes to Notre Dame de Lorette on the Metro Line 12, getting off at Pasteur, and then a 8 minute walk to the TGV platforms. Definitely indirect, but potentially less crowded, and uses minor stations I think.

Anybody know about Line 12?

TRAX · 21 Jul 2020

ashkeba said:
Why not RER B and walk a bit? RER trains seem much bigger.

RER B is a lot less frequent and usually busier (it’s the second-busiest commuter railway line in Europe).

tornado said:
I'm thinking walking 19 minutes to Notre Dame de Lorette on the Metro Line 12, getting off at Pasteur, and then a 8 minute walk to the TGV platforms. Definitely indirect, but potentially less crowded, and uses minor stations I think.

Anybody know about Line 12?

Yup that would be a good indirect option.

CC 72100 · 21 Jul 2020

TRAX said:
RER B is a lot less frequent and usually busier (it’s the second-busiest commuter railway line in Europe).

Agreed, I wouldn't suggest using the RER unless the journey involved means that you have to.

Jamesrob637 · 21 Jul 2020

Surely no lines will be especially busy under "la pandemique?"

Gare du Nord to Montparnasse tomorrow lunchtime.

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