Two aspects of the territory’s railway heritage will be presented: the Niort station and the Niort railway line in Saint-Jean-d'Angély.

By Alexandre Soler, project manager station of Niort-Atlantique and Mathilde Chemin in charge of the inventory of the patrimonies of Niort Agglo.
Niort station was inaugurated in 1856 and expanded in 1878 to allow the opening of new lines like the one linking Niort to Saint-Jean d'Angély. In the 1880s, Niort became a true railway crossroads. Since then, many lines of local interest have been closed and infrastructure has evolved. The heritage inventory in the Niort Agglo territory highlighted heritage elements related to the railway line from Niort to Saint-Jean d'Angély, commissioned in 1881. It required the construction of 25 houses of guards and allowed the installation of five stations in the department of Deux-Sèvres. Today, this line is still in operation: three stations and nearly 10 gatekeepers' houses have been preserved.
Currently, the development project around the Niort-Atlantique station is part of a desire to develop this urban space, which is a part of Niort’s heritage, and adapting this equipment to the needs and uses that have changed since it was built in the mid-19th century.