De Brouckère is a
rapid transit station
A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the ...
located beneath the
Place de Brouckère/De Brouckèreplein in central
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, Belgium. It consists of both a
metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
station (serving lines
1 and
5) and a ''
premetro
A premetro is a tramway or light railway which includes segments built to rapid transit standards, generally as part of a process of conversion to a metro-standards railway usually by the construction of tunnels in the central city area.
Histo ...
'' (underground tram) station (serving lines
3 and
4 on the
North–South Axis
The North–South Axis is a tram tunnel in Brussels, Belgium, which crosses the city centre from North to South between Brussels-North railway station and Albert premetro station.
The first section of this tunnel was opened on 4 October 1976 be ...
between
Brussels-North railway station
Brussels-North railway station (french: Gare de Bruxelles-Nord, nl, Station Brussel-Noord), officially Brussels-North (french: Bruxelles-Nord, link=no, nl, Brussel-Noord, link=no), is one of the three major railway stations in Brussels, Bel ...
and
Albert premetro station
The Albert premetro station is an underground tram station located on the border between the municipalities of Saint-Gilles and Forest in Brussels, Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, ...
).
The station opened on 17 December 1969, as a ''premetro'' station on the tram line between De Brouckère and
Schuman, and it also became a heavy metro station in 1976, serving former lines 1A and 1B. Following the reorganisation of the Brussels Metro on 4 April 2009, it is served by lines
1 and
5, which cross Brussels from east to west.
History
De Brouckère station was inaugurated on 17 December 1969 as a ''
premetro
A premetro is a tramway or light railway which includes segments built to rapid transit standards, generally as part of a process of conversion to a metro-standards railway usually by the construction of tunnels in the central city area.
Histo ...
'' station (i.e. a station served by underground tramways), as part of the first underground
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
route in Belgium, which initially stretched from De Brouckère to
Schuman. On 20 September 1976, the ''premetro'' line was converted into a heavy metro line, which was later split into two distinct lines on 6 October 1982: former lines 1A and 1B, both serving De Brouckère.
Since 4 October 1976, De Brouckère has also been served by the
North–South Axis
The North–South Axis is a tram tunnel in Brussels, Belgium, which crosses the city centre from North to South between Brussels-North railway station and Albert premetro station.
The first section of this tunnel was opened on 4 October 1976 be ...
, which is part of the ''premetro'' system. Lines
3 and
4 provide most service on that axis. On 4 April 2009, metro operation was restructured so that lines
1 and
5 now serve the station.
Area
The station is named after the
Place de Brouckère/De Brouckèreplein, the city square above ground, itself named after the former
mayor of the City of Brussels
This is a list of mayors or burgomasters of the City of Brussels.
Burgundian Netherlands (1384–1482)
*1380: Geert Pipenpoy
*1381: Geert Pipenpoy and Jacques Stovaert
*1421: J. Swaeff, J. Cooman
*1422: Walter Vanden Heetvelde, Petrus van Bole ...
,
Charles de Brouckère
Jonkheer Charles Joseph Marie Ghislain de Brouckère (18 January 1796 – 20 April 1860) was a Belgian nobleman and liberal politician.
Born in Bruges, elder brother of future Prime Minister of Belgium Henri de Brouckère, Charles entered pol ...
. The station lies near the famous
Hotel Metropole, the ''UGC De Brouckère'' cinema, the
Royal Theatre of La Monnaie and one end of the
Rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat, Belgium's second busiest shopping street. The whole complex is also connected to the underground
shopping galleries between the / and the
Boulevard Anspach/Anspachlaan.
Station
The ''premetro'' station, located under De Brouckère Square, is connected to the metro station by a
moving walkway
A moving walkway, also known as an autowalk, moving pavement, moving sidewalk, people-mover, travolator, or travelator, is a slow-moving conveyor mechanism that transports people across a horizontal or inclined plane over a short to medium distan ...
. The metro station is located under the / and was renovated in 2005.
The metro station serving lines 1 and 5 is known to have one of the widest gaps between the metro trains and the platform, as this station is curved to follow the alignment between the neighbouring
Central Station
Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
and
Sainte-Catherine/Sint-Katelijne metro station
Sainte-Catherine ( French) or Sint-Katelijne (Dutch) is a Brussels Metro station. It is located at the /, between the / and the /, in the municipality of the City of Brussels, Belgium. It is also situated near Saint Catherine's Church, whic ...
. For safety reasons, the curved platform edges are equipped with flashing lights to warn passengers of the gap.
In 2004, a mural titled ''The City Moves in the Palm of My Hand'' was installed along the station's moving walkway. The mural was created by artist
Jan Vanriet
Jan Vanriet, real name Jan Louis Lucien Vanriet, (21 February 1948) is a Belgian (Flemish people, Flemish) painter and poet.http://janvanrietcom.webhosting.be/en/biography/
Early life and education
Jan Vanriet was born in Antwerp and attended ...
and is printed on finished edge panels from
PolyVision
Polyvision was the name given by the French film critic Émile Vuillermoz to a specialized widescreen film format devised exclusively for the filming and projection of Abel Gance's 1927 film '' Napoleon''.
Polyvision involved the simultaneou ...
. The mural is designed to reflect the city's vibrancy and historical background.
File:Metro bruxelles station debrouckere.jpg, De Brouckère ''premetro
A premetro is a tramway or light railway which includes segments built to rapid transit standards, generally as part of a process of conversion to a metro-standards railway usually by the construction of tunnels in the central city area.
Histo ...
'' station
File:Metro bruxelles laufband.jpg, The moving walkway connecting the ''premetro'' station with the metro station
References
Notes
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Brouckere station
Brussels metro stations located underground
Railway stations opened in 1969
City of Brussels