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Last Updated: 12 February 2022

The Paris métro, operated by RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens), is the second-busiest subway network in Europe after Moscow with 1.541 billion passengers in 2012. It is also one of the densest transit systems in the world and one of the oldest (the first line opened in 1900). The Paris métro has 303 métro stations, 62 of them offering connections between lines. Here are the Top 10 busiest métro stations in Paris according to 2013 statistics…

 

The Busiest Métro Stations in Paris

Métro Station Madeleine © French Moments
Métro Station Madeleine © French Moments

The five busiest métro stations in Paris are those serving train stations: Gare St Lazare, Gare du Nord, Gare de Lyon, Gare Montparnasse, and Gare de l’Est (Paris’ sixth railway station – Gare d’Austerlitz – is ranked 23).

The busiest métro station in Paris is Gare du Nord, serving lines 4 and 5. Situated in the 10th arrondissement, the métro station is connected to one of France’s busiest train stations with trains serving RER lines B, D and E (via Magenta station), Transilien Nord commuter trains, regional trains to the north of France, Thalys high-speed train to Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne, and Eurostar to London.

The first station in the list that does not serve any railway station is République (lines 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11) with 16.6 million passengers. Opened in 1904, it took its name from Place de la République, a large square at the border between the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements.

It is important to note that these statistics do not include traffic from the RER network. The second column shows both traffic (métro + RER).

Rank   Métro StationsPassengers 2012   Traffic with RER   
1GARE DU NORD

49,721,477

96,148,975

2SAINT-LAZARE

45,666,162

no data

3GARE DE LYON

34,971,365

79,654,020

4MONTPARNASSE-BIENVENUE

31,453,903

 
5GARE DE L’EST

20,018,847

 
6REPUBLIQUE

16,670,353

 
7BIBLIOTHEQUE

15,866,423

 
8CHATELET

14,118,575

 
9LA DEFENSE

13,968,642

44,212,345

10BASTILLE

13,187,049

 

 

The list goes on…

Métro at Pont de Bercy © French Moments
Métro at Pont de Bercy © French Moments

The list of the busiest métro stations ranking 11 to 50:

Rank   Métro StationsPassengers 2012   Traffic with RER   
11LES HALLES

12,895,661

25,023,652

12HOTEL DE VILLE

12,778,262

 
13OPERA

12,606,068

 
14FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

12,582,337

 
15PLACE D’ITALIE

12,110,645

 
16BELLEVILLE

11,650,697

 
17NATION

9,789,555

14,028,206

18STRASBOURG-SAINT-DENIS

9,637,816

 
19ESPLANADE DE LA DEFENSE

9,502,985

 
20PALAIS-ROYAL

9,496,063

 
21PORTE D’ORLEANS

9,463,988

 
22PLACE CLICHY

9,345,445

 
23GARE D’AUSTERLITZ

9,304,834

96,148,979

24PORTE DE CLIGNANCOURT

9,133,819

 
25SAINT-MICHEL

9,119,538

16,950,488

26BARBES-ROCHECHOUART

9,104,266

 
27CHARLES DE GAULLE-ETOILE

9,037,623

18,814,385

28PORTE MAILLOT

8,913,838

no data

29TROCADERO

8,652,608

 
30HAVRE-CAUMARTIN

8,233,710

 
31BIR-HAKEIM

8,109,322

16,117,402

32LA MOTTE-PICQUET-GRENELLE

8,053,581

 
33CHAUSSEE D’ANTIN-LA FAYETTE

7,850,185

 
34STALINGRAD

7,786,098

 
35GAMBETTA

7,653,199

 
36MADELEINE

7,237,082

 
37CRIMEE

7,206,325

 
38GRANDS BOULEVARDS

7,151,007

 
39AUBERVILLIERS-PANTIN-QUATRE CHEMINS

7,145,774

 
40BOBIGNY-PABLO PICASSO

7,113,513

 
41INVALIDES

7,095,632

14,739,542

42CONCORDE

7,052,932

 
43MAIRIE DE CLICHY

6,944,913

 
44CHATEAU ROUGE

6,914,813

 
45OLYMPIADES

6,906,890

 
46PONT DE NEUILLY

6,752,497

 
47ANVERS

6,650,804

 
48PORTE DE VERSAILLES

6,644,069

 
49CHATILLON-MONTROUGE

6,483,965

 
50SAINT-PAUL

6,443,074

 

 

Alma Marceau Paris
The Métro station of Alma Marceau, Paris © French Moments

If the network of stations of Châtelet-Les Halles was considered as one interchange station (métro stations Châtelet and Les Halles, serving lines 1, 4, 7, 11, 14 and RER A, B and D), the total number of passengers would be of 39,142,227.

The vast network of underground passageways linking métro stations Saint-Lazare, Opéra, Havre-Caumartin, Saint-Augustin to RER E station Haussmann Saint-Lazare and RER A station Auber totalised more than 75,509,487 passengers in 2012 (missing data for RER E station Haussmann Saint-Lazare).

Map of St Michel métro station © French Moments
Map of St Michel métro station by French Moments

 

The least busy métro station of Paris

Metro Station - line 8 © French Moments
Métro Station Balard, line 8 © French Moments

Twelve stations welcome less than one million passengers: Saint-Fargeau, Vaneau, Falguière, Porte d’Auteuil, Danube, Chardon-Lagache, Bolivar, Buttes-Chaumont, Pré-Saint-Gervais, Pelleport. The least busy métro station in Paris is Église d’Auteuil (line 10 westbound service only) in the 16th arrondissement. Situated in the neighbourhood of Auteuil, it was originally named Wilhem, a French musician. In 1921, it took the name of the nearby church as some people were convinced that the station referred to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

Rank   Métro StationsPassengers 2012
301ÉGLISE D’AUTEUIL                

179,009

 

Sources: statistics based on 2013 RATP report, retrieved in May 2015 from Tout-Paris.org.

Gems of Paris by French Moments
About the author

Pierre is a French/Australian who is passionate about France and its culture. He grew up in France and Germany and has also lived in Australia and England. He has a background teaching French, Economics and Current Affairs, and holds a Master of Translating and Interpreting English-French with the degree of Master of International Relations, and a degree of Economics and Management. Pierre is the author of Discovery Courses and books about France.

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