Gare de Marseille Saint-Charles, Marseille

Marseille-Saint-Charles stands as the principal railway and intercity bus hub in Marseille. It serves as the southern endpoint of the Paris–Marseille railway and the western terminus of the Marseille–Ventimiglia railway.

Its inauguration took place on 8 January 1848, commissioned by the Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) on the site of the former Saint Charles Cemetery. Perched atop a small hill, the station is linked to the city center by an imposing set of stairs. With the advent of the TGV in 2001, travel times between Marseille and Northern France have significantly reduced, leading to a surge in passenger traffic from 7.1 million annually in 2000 to 16.5 million in 2017, solidifying its position as the eleventh busiest station in France.

In times gone by, Marseille-Saint-Charles held great significance as a crucial stopover on sea voyages to Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East, before air travel gained widespread popularity. Originally disconnected from the city, the station's grand staircase, envisioned by Eugène Senès, received approval from the municipality on 3 July 1911, but its construction was delayed due to World War I. Finally, on 17 July 1923, the construction commenced, and the grand staircase was unveiled on 22 December 1925, followed by an official inauguration by President Gaston Doumergue on 24 April 1927. Along its borders stand statues inspired by distant locations reachable from Marseille's port.