France’s national rail operator and the mayor of Paris have outlined plans to transform the city’s Gare du Nord railway station, trebling its size to accommodate predicted long-term passenger growth, the arrival of the 2024 Olympic Games - and Brexit.

Led by architect Denis Valode – of the Valode & Pistre practice, in conjunction with SNCF’s own in-house architects, the proposals will see a new station facade added to the Rue Faubourg Saint-Denis and the construction of an 18m tall and 300m wide departure hall.

SNCF said the massive hall would reinterpret the 19^th-century Haussmanian concept of the “passage Parisien”, while the station’s Eurostar terminal would be expanded to help it cope with what SNCF described as “the challenges of reinforced border controls due to Brexit”.

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