Porte de Vincennes () is a station on Line 1 of the Paris Métro, situated on the Cours de Vincennes, at the border of the 12th and 20th arrondissements of Paris. It is named after the Porte de Vincennes, a gate at the former Thiers Wall, which was at the beginning of the road to Vincennes. It was the site of the very first construction work on the Métro.
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Due to its status at the time as a terminal station, it featured a unique platform configuration, consisting of two diverging half-stations on a single-tracked loop. The southern half-station housed the arrival platform, and the northern half-station housed the departure platform. Each half-station consisted of a central island platform flanked by two tracks. Porte Maillot, then the line's western terminus, also had a similar configuration until the line was further extended west in 1937.
The station remained the line's eastern terminus until it was further extended to Château de Vincennes on 24 March 1934, resulting in several changes in the station's layout. The platforms were also lengthened under a new reinforced concrete ceiling, past the original tiled vault.
During the automation of line 1, the station had undergone a series of upgrades. The metal panelling installed since the 1960s was removed and the station's platform walls were retiled. Its platforms were closed from 28-29 June 2008 to reenforce and raise the platform level in preparation for the installation of platform screen doors. The line was fully automated in December 2012.
In 2019, the station was used by 7,633,984 passengers, making it the 33rd busiest of the Métro network out of 302 stations.
In 2020, the station was used by 4,840,436 passengers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, making it the 17th busiest of the Métro network out of 304 stations.
In 2021, the station was used by 5,446,602 passengers, making it the 25th busiest of the Métro network out of 304 stations.
Passenger services
Access
The station has 4 accesses:
- Access 1: rue du Général Niessel (with an ascending escalator)
- Access 2: Passage de la Voûte (with an ascending escalator)
- Access 3: avenue du Docteur Arnold Netter
- Access 4: rue des Pyrénées
Station layout
{| border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3"
| style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width="50" valign="top" |G
| style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width="100" valign="top" |Street Level
| style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width="400" valign="top" |Exits/Entrances
|-
| style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width="50" valign="top" |M
| style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width="100" valign="top" |Mezzanine
| style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width="400" valign="top" |Connecting level, passageway to RER, to Exits/Entrances
|-
| rowspan="4" style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width="50" valign="top" |Platform level
| colspan="2" style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-right:solid 2px black;border-left:solid 2px black;border-bottom:solid 2px black;text-align:center;" |
|-
| style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width="100" |Westbound
| style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width="390" |← toward La Défense – Grande Arche
|-
|Eastbound
| toward Château de Vincennes →
|-
| colspan="2" style="border-top:solid 2px black;border-right:solid 2px black;border-left:solid 2px black;border-bottom:solid 1px gray;text-align:center;" |
|}
Platforms
The station has 2 half-stations each with a single wide side platform and a single track with platform screen doors, one for each direction.
The station is also one of only two in the network, along with Porte Dauphine on line 2, to have preserved its original decoration with flat cream-coloured tiles, which was one of the experimental decorations tested in 1900 before the famous bevelled white tiles were selected for other parts of the network.
Other connections
Tramway
The station has been served by tramway T3a since 15 December 2012 as part of its extension from Porte d'Ivry to Porte de Vincennes, and also by tramway T3b in its initial section from Porte de Vincennes to Porte de la Chapelle that opened on the same day. It is one of four métro stations on the network that is located at one of the former gates of Paris and is served by two tram lines; the other three are Porte de Choisy (line 7), Balard (line 8), and Porte de Versailles (line 12). Basilique de Saint-Denis (line 13) is the only station served by two tram lines not located at one of the former gates of Paris.
Bus
The station is also served by lines 26, 64, 86, 215, 351, and La Traverse de Charonne (501) of the RATP bus network, and at night, by line N11 of the Noctilien bus network.
Nearby
- Église Saint-Gabriel
- Lycée Hélène Boucher
- Lycée Maurice-Ravel
- square Réjane
- square Sarah Bernhardt
Gallery
<gallery widths="200" heights="165">
File:Station Porte Vincennes Métro Paris Ligne 1 - Paris XII (FR75) - 2022-06-28 - 5.jpg|Extended platform under reinforced concrete
File:Metro 1 Porte de Vincennes quai.JPG|The station before the installation of platform screen doors
File:Station de métro Porte de Vincennes à Paris en restauration.jpg|Old advertising from the 1950-70s revealed when the station was under renovation in 2008
File:Accès Station Métro Porte Vincennes Cours Vincennes - Paris XX (FR75) - 2021-12-21 - 5.jpg|Access 1
File:Accès Station Métro Porte Vincennes Cours Vincennes - Paris XII (FR75) - 2021-12-21 - 4.jpg|Access 2
File:Accès Station Métro Porte Vincennes Cours Vincennes - Paris XII (FR75) - 2021-12-21 - 6.jpg|Access 3
File:Accès Station Métro Porte Vincennes Cours Vincennes - Paris XX (FR75) - 2021-12-21 - 6.jpg|Access 4
File:A la porte de Vincennes il ne reste rien des abris des tramways (31-1-1918), PH30355.jpg|A Guimard entrance can be seen in the background, demolished since 1933
</gallery>