Explanation: Train Stations in Paris

The Metro, RER, bus, airport shuttle and tram are great methods of public transportation in Paris but can be extremely confusing to any tourist.

Metro (ie. subway), RER line (ie. light rail), Tram: All part of the public transportation system in Paris and strangely enough, all have been referred to as a train even though none of them are trains. People call them trains of habit and also because they tend to connect to the ‘actual’ train. That makes things extremely confusing, especially for tourists unfamiliar with the city. On top of this, you have other options including buses, and shuttles which are owned and operated by private companies but are all choreographed by Paris transit authorities.

Most of the confusion lies in the fact that there are suburban trains (Transilieans) and “grand line” (ie. grande ligne) trains in the stations. Neighboring communities are connected to Paris via the suburban lines that travel to different cities in the Ile-de-France region. But there are also trains traveling to different parts of France, or other European countries such as UK, Belgium, and Germany.

“Gare” means station in French, but in the Parisien transit system using ‘gare‘ symbolizes a train station. On the Metro, you’ll find stops on the line which are actually connections tunnels to the actual train station to catch things such as the suburban rail or a Eurostar train  (these stations includes Gare d’Austerlitz, Gare du Nord, Gare de Saint-Lazare, Gare de l’Est, Gare de Lyon, Gare Montparnasse, Gare Saint-Lazare).

Important note: Within the city of Paris, you can almost always use a ‘ticket t+’, but if your destination requires the use of a suburban train, you will have to get a ‘billet Origine-Destination’. This means that a day trip to Versailles from Paris via train will require a ‘billet Origine-Destination’ (but a day trip to Versailles from Paris via bus can be paid for by ‘ticket t+’).

Hope this removes some of the mystery of Paris public transportation!

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