The station is located above ground between Pont Morland road bridge and the Voie Mazas, above the Saint-Martin canal, overhanging one of the locks leading to the Seine.

The metro line connects to the Gare d'Austerlitz metro station by crossing the Seine via the Viaduc d'Austerlitz after the track winds to the right around the Institut médico-légal de Paris (morgue) on a viaduct called the Viaduc du quai de la Rapée.

[1] On 13 July 1906, Line 5 from the Place d'Italie crossed the Seine via the Viaduc d'Austerlitz to the station and temporarily became its terminus.

From 1 August, in order to facilitate connections, the metro returned to Gare de Lyon station using a preserved service road.

The station is named after the Sieur de la Rapée, commissioner of war under Louis XV.