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Lyon (French pronunciation: [ljɔ̃] ( listen), locally: [lijɔ̃]; Occitan: Lion [liˈu]; Arpitan: Liyon [ʎjɔ̃]; English: /liːˈɒn/), traditionally spelt Lyons in English, is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at 470 km (292 mi) from Paris, 320 km (199 mi) from Marseille, 160 km (99 mi) from Geneva, 280 km (174 mi) from Turin, and 600 km (373 mi) from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais.

The city of Lyon has 480,660 inhabitants. Together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Lyon forms the largest agglomeration (urban area) in France outside Paris with a population estimated to be 1,422,331; its overall metropolitan area was estimated to have a population of 2,118,132. Its urban region represents half of the Rhône-Alpes region population with 2.9 million inhabitants. Lyon is the capital of this region, as well as the capital of the smaller Rhône département.

Gare de Saint-Exupéry TGV (formerly Gare de Satolas) is a railway station near Lyon, France, directly attached to Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport. The station was an addition to the airport built to serve TGV trains on the LGV Rhône-Alpes, part of the main line running from Paris to Marseille. It is situated about 20 km east of Lyon city centre.

Saint-Exupéry station was designed by Santiago Calatrava, cost 750 million Francs and opened on 3 July 1994, at the same as the high speed line to Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence. The building is mostly a combination of concrete and steel.

The station has six tracks laid in a cutting. The two central tracks are isolated to permit trains to traverse the station at full speed (300 km/h). Both sets of two tracks have platforms 500 m long. To the west, a small piece of land has been put aside for future expansion. Above the tracks, a 300 m long passenger concourse gives easy access to the platforms and is equipped with several travelators.

The railway station is linked to Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport by a footbridge equipped with a travelator. This airport is historically the first to be served by a high speed station. Unfortunately, this proximity to the airport has not helped the station and it sees little use as passengers mainly use Lyon-Perrache and Lyon Part-Dieu.