Toulouse-Matabiau station

For the song performed by Zebda, see Matabiau (song).

Toulouse-Matabiau is the main railway station in Toulouse, southern France. It is in the city centre and connected to the Toulouse Metro. The station is situated on the Bordeaux–Sète railway, Toulouse–Bayonne railway, Brive–Toulouse (via Capdenac) railway and Toulouse–Auch railway. Direct trains run to most parts of France.

Gare de Toulouse-Matabiau
Railway
The station building
General information
Location	Boulevard de Marengo, 31000 Toulouse
Owned by	SNCF
Line(s)	Bordeaux–Sète railway, Toulouse–Bayonne railway, Brive–Toulouse railway, Toulouse–Auch railway, Metro Line A
Platforms	13 (1–11, A-B)
Tracks	12
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Other information
Station code	87611004
History
Opened	1905
Electrified	Yes
Passengers
9,788,574[1]
Services Preceding station SNCF Following station Terminus TGV inOui Carcassonne towards Lyon-Part-Dieu Montauban-Ville-Bourbon towards Montparnasse Preceding station Ouigo Following station Montauban towards Paris-Montparnasse Grande Vitesse Terminus Preceding station SNCF Following station Montauban towards Bordeaux Intercités Carcassonne towards Marseille Saint-Gaudens towards Hendaye Terminus Montauban towards Paris-Austerlitz Intercités (night) Preceding station TER Occitanie Following station Terminus 2 Montrabé towards Rodez 3 Saint-Sulpice towards Aurillac 9 Montrabé towards Mazamet 10 Montaudran towards Narbonne 11 Toulouse-Saint-Agne towards Latour-de-Carol Toulouse-Saint-Agne towards Pau 15 Terminus Terminus 16 Toulouse-Saint-Agne towards Auch Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds towards Agen 18 Terminus Lacourtensourt towards Brive-la-Gaillarde 19 Montaudran towards Portbou 25

History

Main entrance of Matabiau station

Trainshed and platforms

Toulouse waited until the middle of the 19th century for the railway to arrive in the city.^{[citation needed]}

In 1853, Émile Pereire and his brother Jacob founded the CF du Midi. Three years later, the line from Bordeaux to Toulouse was opened, it was extended to Sète in 1857.^[2]

The current passenger building at the main railway station of Toulouse was built between 1903 and 1905, replacing an older and smaller building. The station took the name of the borough, an area called Matabiau, named after the martyrdom of 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 Saintes. Like the Midi station in Bordeaux, Matabiau station bears 26 coats of arms 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 its listing.^{[clarification needed]}

Layout

The station is centred on 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 regional (TER) and national (TGV and Corail) services.

Toulouse is served by the following regional lines:

• Toulouse–Albi-Rodez
• Toulouse–Montauban
• Toulouse–Saint-Sulpice
• Toulouse–Carcassonne
• Toulouse–Tarbes and Bayonne
• Toulouse–Foix
• Toulouse–Auch

Several SNCF 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 marshalling yard 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the north.

Train services

The following services currently call at Toulouse-Matabiau:^[3][4]

• high-speed services (TGV)
  • Paris–Tours–Bordeaux–Toulouse
  • Toulouse–Montpellier–Lyon
• intercity services (Intercités)
  • Paris–Vierzon–Limoges–Toulouse
  • Bordeaux–Toulouse–Montpellier–Marseille
  • Bayonne–Pau–Tarbes–Toulouse
• night services (Intercités de Nuit)
  • Paris–Souillac-Toulouse
• local service (TER Occitanie)
  • Toulouse–Carcassonne–Narbonne
  • Toulouse–Albi–Rodez
  • Toulouse–Figeac–Aurillac
  • Brive-la-Gaillarde–Cahors–Montauban–Toulouse
  • Montauban–Toulouse
  • Agen–Montauban–Toulouse
  • Toulouse–Castres–Mazamet
  • Toulouse–Castelnaudary–Carcassonne
  • Toulouse–Colomiers–Auch
  • Toulouse–Foix–Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg
  • Toulouse–Saint-Gaudens–Tarbes–Pau

Future

The station is currently being renovated, with the inside of the historic building being refurbished.

A new building will be built on the other side of the tracks. This new expansion will include connections to the current line A metro station and to the new line C metro station, which is currently under construction. It will also provide other various services.^[5]

Gallery

• 
  The western concourse
• 
  The eastern concourse
• 
  An X72500 at Toulouse-Matabiau
• 
  A selection of SNCF locos at Toulouse-Matabiau
• 
  The main facade after renovation of the square in 2021

References

1. "Fréquentation en gares". SNCF. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
2. Direction Générale des Ponts et Chaussées et des Chemins de Fer (1869). Statistique centrale des chemins de fer. Chemins de fer français. Situation au 31 décembre 1869 (in French). Paris: Ministère des Travaux Publics. pp. 146–160.
3. Rechercher une fiche horaire, TER Occitanie, accessed 11 May 2022.
4. Le réseau régional de transport public, TER Occitanie, accessed 11 May 2022.
5. "Toulouse. Une halle des transports pour créer "la gare du XXIe siècle"". ladepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved 8 July 2023.

External links

• Media related to Gare de Toulouse-Matabiau at Wikimedia Commons
• Toulouse-Matabiau station at "Gares & Connexions", the official website of SNCF (in French)

43°36′40″N 1°27′13″E