Mechelen railway station ( nl, Station Mechelen, french: Gare de Malines), officially Mechelen, is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

in Mechelen, Antwerp, Belgium. The station opened on 5 May 1835 on railway lines 25, 27 and 53. Train services are operated by the

National Railway Company of Belgium french: Société nationale des chemins de fer belgesgerman: Nationale Gesellschaft der Belgischen Eisenbahnen , type = Statutory corporation , industry = Rail Transport , foundation = 1926 , founder = Government o ...

(NMBS/SNCB).

History

On 5 May 1835, the first public train journey on the European mainland arrived near the station. The train line stopped just south of the station, as there was no bridge over the canal until 1836. Lines were built in all directions from the station: North to Antwerp, south to

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 ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, east to Leuven, Liège and

Verviers Verviers (; wa, Vervî) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also ...

and west to Dendermonde,

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

and

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

. In 2013, major plans to modernise and rebuild the station started. This project is called ''Mechelen in Beweging''. A 3-level underground car park has since been constructed. The current station buildings and tracks will be demolished and replaced. The building work is expected to take more than a decade as the work will need to be carried out platform by platform to retain enough capacity for the station.

Features

The station has twelve platforms; the six on the eastern side are a few metres higher than the others. In 2012, a new

high-speed railway High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, line ...

(line 25N) opened between Mechelen and

Schaerbeek (French and archaic Dutch, ) or (contemporary Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Etterbeek, Evere and S ...

, in northern Brussels. This line also links Mechelen with Brussels Airport. Platforms 11 and 12 were added to the station in December 2020 to accommodate the additional trains from this line. To the east of the station is the large Mechelen Train Works, where trains receive maintenance and heavy works, such as refurbishment.

Train services

The following services currently serve the station: *Intercity services (IC-05) ''Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Nivelles - Charleroi'' *Intercity services (IC-08) ''Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels Airport - Leuven - Hasselt'' *Intercity services (IC-11) ''Binche - Braine-le-Comte - Halle - Brussels - Mechelen - Turnhout'' (weekdays) *Intercity services (IC-21) ''Ghent - Dendermonde - Mechelen - Leuven'' *Intercity services (IC-22) ''Essen - Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels'' (weekdays) *Intercity services (IC-22) ''Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Halle - Braine-le-Comte - Binche'' (weekends) *Intercity services (IC-31) ''Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels'' (weekdays) *Intercity services (IC-31) ''Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Nivelles - Charleroi'' (weekends) *Intercity services (IC-35) ''Amsterdam - The Hague - Rotterdam - Roosendaal - Antwerp - Brussels Airport - Brussels'' *Local services (L-02) ''Zeebrugge - Bruges – Ghent – Dendermonde – Mechelen'' (weekdays) *Local services (L-20) ''Sint-Niklaas – Mechelen – Leuven'' (weekdays) *Local services (L-20) ''Mechelen - Leuven'' (weekends) *Local services (L-27) ''Sint-Niklaas - Mechelen'' (weekends) *Local services (L-28) ''Ghent - Dendermonde - Mechelen'' (weekends) *Brussels RER services (S1) ''Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Waterloo - Nivelles'' (weekdays) *Brussels RER services (S1) ''Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels'' (weekends) *Brussels RER services (S5) ''Mechelen - Brussels-Luxembourg - Etterbeek - Halle - Enghien (- Geraardsbergen)'' *Brussels RER services (S7) ''Mechelen - Merode - Halle''

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Mechelen railway station at Belgian Railways website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mechelen Railway Station Railway stations in Belgium Railway stations in Antwerp Province Buildings and structures in Mechelen Railway stations in Belgium opened in 1835