The Gare de Blois-Chambord, part I !!

Posted in Europe, France

I will be telling you about a train station odd, but indeed I have been to a few if only ridden in fewer. We were visiting Blois, (see posts) and staying at a hotel nearby and decided to walked by it. The idea is that you can go from Paris to Blois by train same day! Therefore, here is my take on the Gare de Blois-Chambord, part I !! Hope you enjoy the post as I

The Blois – Chambord train station is on the Paris-Austerlitz line to Bordeaux-Saint-Jean, located in Blois, about 20 km from Chambord, in the department of Loir-et-Cher, dept 41 in the region Centre-Val de Loire, and in my belle France. Until December 14, 2013, it bore the name of Gare de Blois train station. The new station was built slightly downstream from the old line of 1846. The works lasted from 1890 to 1893 and the new station then cut the avenue de l’Embarcadère (now avenue du Docteur-Jean-Laigret).  On June 12, 2015 a footbridge over the tracks was inaugurated in order to allow users to cross conveniently to the train station and access to passenger platforms. The train station is about 5 min walking from City center.

This Gare Blois-Chambord train station, has a passenger building, with counters, open every day. It is equipped with automatic machines for the purchase of tickets. The two main tracks (1 and 2) of the line from Paris to Bordeaux are bordered by platforms. To these are added two other platform tracks, one of which is bordered by two platforms (tracks 3 and 4). An underground passage connects platforms 1 and 2. The third platform (for tracks 3 and 4) is connected to platform 2 by a underground passage. The platform tracks are partially covered by a steel roof.  They offer service of the regional trains from the TER Center-Val de Loire network. The offer of the latter consists of omnibus or almost omnibus missions to Orléans and Tours, semi-direct missions between Orléans and Tours, semi-direct missions circulating between Paris-Austerlitz and Tours, and the Interloire between Orléans and Nantes, Saint-Nazaire or Le Croisic. So is not a train station of great use due to this connections and bus service instead of trains. On the line connecting the towns of Orléans and Le Croisic, the train station is located between the Beaugency and Amboise stops. From there, travelers can, for example, reach St-Pierre-des-Corps (just outside of Tours)  in less than forty minutes or Langeais in barely an hour and a half, according to train timetables.

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The Blois train station is five minutes from the Medici roundabout, and the Royal Castle, the Gare district extends the project of Carré Saint-Vincent and the ACVL to form, as far as the Vienne river, the backbone of the urban development underway in the heart of the city.   In addition to the Ducoux block, the first stage of the project was the design and installation of the footbridge and its rotunda the forecourt of the station, which will be completely redesigned to offer a beautiful space open to the new district, of which it will be the heart. The flow of cars will be limited in front of the station, in order to give back their place to people on foot and by bicycle, with clearer routes. Drop-offs and a car park managed by Effia with 200 spaces are also planned. Finally, the station being a privileged interface between urban and interurban coach lines, a real bus station will be created making the square an intermodal exchange hub (railways, bus station, public transport, etc. taxis and bikes traffic). The temporary car park on the station side will soon be shifted by a few meters to the space freed up by the SNCF on rue Germaine-Tillion. As of April 11, 2023, the Halou car park, located on the west side under the footbridge, will be closed to allow the SNCF to carry out, by the summer, access work to the tracks for people with reduced mobility. Then and until the end of 2024, the car park will be used for the construction site of the Insa gymnasium, The temporary car park on the forecourt side will be made free until August 4, 2023. The cycle lane, the staircase and the elevator of the rotunda are therefore inaccessible. However, the footbridge remains open and connects rue Alfred-Halou to the platforms of the railway tracks, and vice versa. People who used the rotunda and then the footbridge to connect the West and East of the station are invited to take Avenue Gambetta during the works. Finally, the station being a privileged interface between the lines of urban and interurban coaches, a real bus station has been created, making the forecourt an intermodal hub (railways, bus station, public transport, taxis and soft traffic ).

All of the above in continues work so check ahead for eventualities if coming by train to Blois, The City of Blois has updated info here : https://www.blois.fr/attractive/grands-projets/gare

The Gare de Blois district, located in the heart of the city, is one of the major gateways to Blois. In the time of the Kings, long paths crossed this meadow which linked the castle to the forest of Blois. After the industrial revolution and the arrival of the railway in 1846, a district was structured around new axes, leading in particular to the opening of Avenue Gambetta. Soon, the Poulain chocolate factory took advantage of a space that was still little used to model the district in its image, then named La Villette. Since the departure of the factory in the 1980s, the people of Blois have taken over the station as a reference for the name of the district.

The SNCF Gare et Connexions on the Blois Chambord train station:https://www.garesetconnexions.sncf/fr/gare/frxbq/blois-chambord

The TER Centre Val de Loire on the Blois Chambord train station: https://www.ter.sncf.com/centre-val-de-loire/se-deplacer/gares/blois-chambord-87574004

There you go folks, a pretty train station or gare de Blois Chambord, really!  we parked just in front in square Pasteur and corner of avenue du Docteur-Jean-Laigret for free! Always nice to visit Blois even if we have come by car, the train station is quant pretty nice should be worth the trip. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Gare de Blois-Chambord, part I as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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