The station is located on the left bank of the Seine in the southeastern part of the city, in the 13th arrondissement.

In 1997, the Ministry of Culture designated the Gare d'Austerlitz a historical monument; it became the fifth large railway station in Paris to receive such a label, as currently only Montparnasse has not been attributed it.

Since the opening of the LGV Atlantique – ending at Gare Montparnasse – Austerlitz has lost most of its long-distance southwestern services.

[6] It included a large hall made from iron, 51.25 metres (168 ft 2 in) wide and 280 metres (920 ft) long (the second largest in France after Bordeaux),[7] designed by Ferdinand Mathieu and carried out by the construction workshops of Schneider & Co at Le Creusot and Chalon-sur-Saône.

Also built was the departure pavilion to the north, the perpendicular building of the restaurant buffet, the arrival pavilion to the south, as well as the Paris-Orléans railway administration building at the west end of the hall, on Place Valhubert, with a Belle Époque style façade.

In 1906, the great hall of Gare d'Austerlitz was literally pierced through its width by the Metro 5 line by an extension of a viaduct crossing the Seine.

[8][9] On 28 February 1997, parts of the Gare d'Austerlitz were classified as monuments historiques, especially its facades and glass roof.