Gare de Toulouse Matabiau
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Toulouse-Matabiau is the main railway station of the French southern city of Toulouse.
[edit] History
Toulouse waited a long time for the arrival of the railway as one of its mayors, Joseph Villèle, refused to accept it. It was only in the middle of the 19th century that the railway arrived.
In 1853, Émile and his brother Jacob Pereire founded the CF du Midi. Three years later sees the beginning of the railway line from Agen to Toulouse to which was added a line from Bordeaux to Sète in 1857.
The passenger building was only built between 1903 and 1905, replacing an older and smaller building. The station took the name of the borough it was situated in, the area called Matabiau, named after Saint-Saturnin; mata-bios meaning kill the bull. It was designed by M Toudoire (who also designed the station at Bordeaux) and was built in stone from the roman city of Saintes. Like the Midi station in Bordeaux, Matabiau station bares 26 coat of arms on its front, of 26 destinations the Midi served.
Some work was carried out on the building in 1938 prior to it being listed.
[edit] Destinations
Toulouse-Matabiau is situated at the heard of a six branch star network of lines with services being regional as well as national (TGV and Corail).
Toulouse is served by the following lines:
- Toulouse-Montauban
- Toulouse-Saint-Sulpice
- Toulouse-Carcassonne
- Toulouse-Tarbes and Bayonne
- Toulouse-Foix
- Toulouse-Auch
Several SNCF facilities are present near the station, including the old Toulouse-Raynal goods yard now a carriage and engine maintenance yard and the large Saint-Jory marshalling yard 15km to the north.
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