MONTE CARLO STATION (MONACO)

Space-age station carved from stone

Photos by Yomiuri Shimbun Photographer Toshiaki Shimizu

By Keiko Nakamura

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

I was about 20 minutes outside Nice, southern France, when I found myself captivated by the petite port town on the Cote d'Azur outside my train window--but then we entered a tunnel, arriving a few minutes later at Monaco's Monte Carlo Station.

"It's too bad we can't see the beach from the platforms, but the station has been improved and is much more user-friendly. It's exciting to have the underground station," said 54-year-old Denis Gibelin, an artist born and raised in Monaco.

Every year 1-1/2 million passengers pass through the station. During a Formula One race in May, 30,000 passengers packed the station all at once.

Monte Carlo Station is not noted for its size, instead standing out because of its futuristic feel stemming from its use of cutting-edge technology. The enormous underground platforms were built inside a dome carved in bedrock.

The station's lighting, too, evokes a space-age image with tiny, bright lights dotting the ceiling, resulting in a galaxy of stars. The hallways, too, hold their own with walls of marble.

"Monaco's government was determined to build the best station that could be built, irregardless of price, so we did," said Nobert Chaix, a 47-year old former stationmaster.

As the city-state covers a total area of less than two square kilometers and is built on the side of hills that fall suddenly into the sea below, flat land is priceless.

An underground railway was a natural solution to the problem and effective use of the land.

The construction of the underground railway started in 1958. It took six years to complete the section of railway on the eastern side toward Italy. About 30 years later, in 1993, construction began on the railway in the western half of the state and the new underground station. It took almost the same amount of time to complete.

The level ground from which the railway facilities had moved covered four hectares, where schools, hotels and commercial facilities can now be built.