The stations in the Paris region where millions of employees commute to work every day will be going coworking. By the end of 2016, the SNCF plans to open Work & Station spaces in a number of stations, the list of which will be announced at the end of the summer. Business travellers will be able to find fully-equipped offices where they can work while on the move. At the same time, this should help to reduce traffic congestion at peak times.
After launching a pilot site at Conflans Saint-Honorine station in early January, the SNCF will be rolling out this new service in four formats. First of all, there will be fully-fledged business centres, where users will be able to use equipped offices for a generally limited period. Work&Stations can also take the form of third places with spaces for around a hundred people. Built mainly over the car parks adjacent to the stations, these business spaces will cover 1,000 m2 and will include a lounge, individual and shared offices and meeting rooms. Finally, these sites could also be smaller, ranging from 70 to 250 m2, with Coworking spaces comprising shared offices and a meeting room. Five sites are currently involved: the RER C stations at Porte Maillot and Boulainvilliers in Paris, as well as Clichy-Levallois, Drancy and Fontainebleau. Finally, the latest version of the concept, microworking spaces, ranging from 10 to 50 m2, will be located in the heart of the passenger buildings at certain stations, like the pilot site at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.
Nomadic working is booming, so the SNCF is fully on board with this trend, not only in the Paris region, but also in the provinces. In partnership with the SNCF, Regus, the world leader in shared offices, has set up Regus Express centres in the Nancy, Bordeaux and Le Mans stations, with the Gare du Nord in Paris and the Lille Flandres and Amiens stations to follow. At the same time, Multiburo, another specialist in business centres, is offering Spots at Gare de Lyon in Paris and soon at Gare St Lazare, as well as at Lyon Part Dieu and in the immediate vicinity of Lille and Nantes stations.
