Gentilly Station

Built in 1891, the Gentilly Station in Paris is a hub for transportation through the department of Val-de-Marne within the region of Ile-de-France. Val-de-Marne is one of three small departments that form a ring around Paris known as the Petite Couronne. Gentilly Station is on the B line of the Reseau Express Regional (RER) transit system which serves Paris and its surrounding suburbs.

An ancient municipality, the commune of Gentilly was first documented in the 6th century as a royal estate. The area developed over the centuries, first shared between different abbeys and a seigneury – meaning the domain of a feudal lord – in the Middle Ages. Goldsmiths were also said to have populated the region around the time and may have influenced the origin of the Gentilly name.

In 1860, the city of Paris was expanded by adding neighboring communes and half of Gentilly was annexed to Paris, forming the neighborhoods of Maison-Blance and Glaciere. Decades later, half of the remaining territory was detached and became the commune of Le Kremlin-Bicêtre. Only a quarter of the original Gentilly territory remained. To this day, Gentilly remains the closest commune to Paris.

The Gentilly Station is one of 47 stations on the RER B line which crosses the Paris region from north to south. As part of the RER, all trains run through to a group of stations in central Paris and then branch out towards the end of each line. RER Line B was officially created in 1977 as a result of a connection of the Ligne de Sceaux terminus, the Luxembourg station, and the Gare du Nord Station in the north.

Nestled just south of Paris, Gentilly Station is part of a vast network of stations within the Reseau Express Regional rail serving millions of passengers each year.