L’arrivée est à cette gare.

L’ is the shortened form of la here.

• arrivée is a feminine singular noun.
• Normally you would have la arrivée, but French avoids that vowel clash.
• So la becomes l’ before a vowel sound.

So:

• la + arrivée → l’arrivée

This is called elision.

Because arrivée is a noun, and like all French nouns, it has a grammatical gender. The noun arrivée is feminine.

That is why you get:

• l’arrivée
• cette arrivée
• une arrivée

It comes from the verb arriver (to arrive), but here it is not a verb—it is the noun arrival.

They are different parts of speech:

• arrivée = arrival (a noun)
• arrive = arrives / arrives at / is arriving (a verb form of arriver)

So in this sentence:

• L’arrivée est à cette gare = The arrival is at this station

If you said:

• Le train arrive à cette gare

that would mean:

• The train arrives at this station

That is often a very helpful distinction for English speakers.

They are two completely different words:

• est = is (from the verb être, to be)
• à = at / to / in, depending on context

So:

• L’arrivée est à cette gare literally works like
• The arrival is at this station

A very common beginner confusion is mixing up est and à, but they do different jobs in the sentence.

The accent helps distinguish it from a.

• à = a preposition, often meaning to, at, or in
• a = has, from the verb avoir

For example:

• Il a un billet. = He has a ticket.
• Il va à la gare. = He is going to the station.

So in your sentence, à cette gare means at this station.

Because gare is a feminine singular noun.

French demonstratives must agree with the noun:

• ce = masculine singular
• cet = masculine singular before a vowel sound
• cette = feminine singular
• ces = plural

Since gare is feminine, you need cette:

• cette gare = this station

Because à is the normal preposition for being at a station.

• à la gare = at the station
• à cette gare = at this station

dans la gare would mean inside the station building.

So the difference is roughly:

• à cette gare = at this station, as a location or stop
• dans cette gare = inside this station

In your sentence, à cette gare is the natural choice.

Usually gare refers to a train station or sometimes a major transport terminal.

For some other kinds of stations, French often uses different words:

• gare = train station
• station de métro = metro station
• station-service = gas station
• station de bus or arrêt de bus = bus station / bus stop

So cette gare most naturally suggests this train station.

Grammatically, it talks about the arrival as a noun.

So it does not literally say:

• The train arrives at this station

It says something closer to:

• The arrival is at this station
• or Arrival is at this station

In real-life context, it could refer to where arrivals happen, where an arrival point is, or where someone/something is expected to arrive.

If you specifically want to say The train arrives at this station, French would usually say:

• Le train arrive à cette gare.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• L’arrivée ≈ la-ree-vay
• est ≈ eh
• à ≈ ah
• cette ≈ set
• gare ≈ gar

So roughly:

• la-ree-vay eh ah set gar

A few useful notes:

• the é in arrivée sounds like ay
• est is usually pronounced eh
• the r in French is not like a typical English r
• gare has a broad a sound, not an English air sound

It is grammatically correct, but whether it sounds natural depends on context.

It can work if you are talking about:

• an arrival point
• an arrivals area
• where a scheduled arrival takes place

But in everyday French, people might more often say something more specific, such as:

• Le train arrive à cette gare. = The train arrives at this station.
• L’arrivée du train se fait à cette gare. = The train’s arrival takes place at this station.

So the sentence is fine grammatically, but in real use, French often prefers a more explicit version depending on what exactly is arriving.