Maison Blanche (Paris Métro)

Maison Blanche (French pronunciation: ​[mɛzɔ̃ blɑ̃ʃ]) is a station of the Paris Métro, serving Line 7. South of this station, the line forks into two branches, one leading to Villejuif – Louis Aragon and the other to Mairie d'Ivry. The station is under the Avenue d'Italie, between the streets of Rue Caillaux and Rue Bourgon, near the Porte d'Italie, a gate in the former Thiers Wall.

Maison Blanche
Paris Métro station
Location	13th arrondissement of Paris Île-de-France France
Coordinates	48°49′20″N 2°21′31″E
Owned by	RATP
Operated by	RATP
Other information
Fare zone	1
History
Opened	7 March 1930
Services
Preceding station   Paris Métro   Following station Le Kremlin-Bicêtre toward Villejuif – Louis Aragon Villejuif branch Tolbiac toward La Courneuve – 8 mai 1945 Porte d'Italie toward Mairie d'Ivry Ivry branch
Location
Maison Blanche Location within Paris

It opened as part of a planned section of Line 7, which was temporarily operated as part of Line 10 until the completion of the under-Seine crossing of line 7 from Pont de Sully to Place Monge. On 7 March 1930 the line was extended from Place d'Italie to Porte de Choisy, including Maison Blanche. The station was integrated into line 7 on 26 April 1931. The station is named after the district, which gets its name from a hotel of the same name, which is French for "White House".

Along with Place des Fêtes, a prototype air raid shelter was added to the station in 1935 to protect it from chemical attacks and was fitted with airtight doors to allow the people to take refuge inside in the event of an attack. They were chosen due to their proximity to the heavily populated, working-class districts. [1]

Early plans to extend line 14 from Olympiades to the Orly Airport included the possibility of taking over the existing line 7 branch from this station to Villejuif – Louis Aragon, which opened in the early-1980s. However, the inclusion of line 14 in the Grand Paris Express project means that the line 14 extension to Orly will only consist of new infrastructure.[2]

Station layout

Street Level

B1	Connecting level

Line 7 platforms	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Southbound	← toward Villejuif – Louis Aragon (Le Kremlin-Bicêtre) ← toward Mairie d'Ivry (Porte d'Italie)
	Northbound	→ toward La Courneuve – 8 Mai 1945 (Tolbiac) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

References

1. "Un jour, une station : Maison Blanche, réputée invulnérable". RATP. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
2. "Développement de la région capitale (Development of the capital region)" (in French). French government. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2009.