The railway station's revamp has given the town an interface worthy of its image and an engine for the neighbourhood's economic development.

"We wanted the station to again be the main entrance to the city, as it was for the best part of a century, from 1863 to the 1960s." Patrick Roper, director of the SNCF's Gares & Con­­nex­ions department that manages and develops its passenger stations, sums up the scope of the mission this renovation is to fulfil. The station had indeed morphed into one of the city's bêtes noires: awkward acces­ses, out­dated wait­ing areas and infrastructure, traffic jams... a pic­ture vastly inferior to what a city of Cannes's stature merits. But since last December this situation has been rectified thanks to a meaningful modern ma­ke­over. "We've creat­ed a station that showcases our city, one that's simp­lified, more accessible, more intermodal and more alive," says Patrick Roper. Simplified, by extend­ing and modernis­ing the waiting areas but also clarifying the spaces, and so visually differentiating their functions through trans­­pa­rency. More acces­sible, by installing escalators and lifts at the entrances. More intermodal, by facilitating connections between the various forms of transport (buses, cars, taxis, bicycles). And finally, more alive by opening a shopping arcade, food outlets, a gym and a crèche in autumn this year then a 125-room hotel in early 2016.

Rebirth of a district
This revamp will enable the station to cope with 6 million travellers a year, as against 3.8 million previously, a hugely important factor for Cannes's mayor, David Lisnard: "Managing flows – of information, trade, passengers – is one of the 21st century's biggest issues and inputs directly into a place's attractiveness and development, so facilitating those flows has a direct impact on trade and tourism, not to mention residents' comfort." The station's renovation also signals the start of a bigger redevelopment project for the entire neigh­bourhood to north and south. Opposite the sta­tion forecourt on the south side, the pavements on Boulevard Jean-Jaurès will be renovated and more street lights installed. To the north, the plan is to renovate Square d’Arménie (2016) and pedestrianise one lane of Passage Châteaudun, making it fully accessible to people with limited mobility, so as to encourage people to visit Gambetta Market.

By Alexandre Benoist