Paris Austerlitz (Austerlitz Station) is one of the six large terminus railway stations in Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine in the southeastern part of the city, in the XIIIe arrondissement. It is the origin for the Paris-Bordeaux and Paris-Toulouse main lines, but since the introduction of the TGV Atlantique — served by the Gare Montparnasse — Austerlitz has lost most of its long-distance southwestern services. It is used by some 25 million passengers annually, about half the number passing through Montparnasse.
The Elipsos Train Hotels (Trenhotel) operated jointly between RENFE and SNCF operate from here to Madrid & Barcelona. They generally leave around 7pm local time and travel overnight arriving the next morning at their destinations.
The station takes its name from the Czech town Slavkov u Brna (German: Austerlitz). Napoleon I defeated the superior numbers of the Third Coalition on 2 December 1805 there in the Battle of Austerlitz.
Gare d'Austerlitz was built in 1840 in order to serve first the Paris-Corbeil then the Paris-Orleans line. The station was originally called Gare d'Orléans. An 1865-1868 extension was designed by architect Pierre-Louis Renaud.
A large project of refurbishment of the Gare d'Austerlitz is currently underway. Four new tracks are in construction and all the existing tracks are being covered. The interior will be rebuilt in order to receive the TGV Sud-Est and TGV Atlantique, partially transferred from the Gare de Lyon and Gare Montparnasse, both of which have reached maximum capacity. All the work is planned to be fully realized by 2020, and will allow a doubling of the station's activity.
Gare d'Austerlitz also hosts stations on the Paris Métro and RER.
