Brussels-Congres railway station
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Brussels-Congress railway station (french: Gare de Bruxelles-Congrès, nl, Station Brussel-Congres), officially Brussels-Congress (french: Bruxelles-Congrès, link=no, nl, Brussel-Congres, link=no) is a train stop on the
North–South connection The North–South connection (french: Jonction Nord-Midi, nl, Noord-Zuidverbinding) is a railway link of national and international importance through central Brussels, Belgium, that connects the major railway stations in the city. It is line ...
in the
City of Brussels The City of Brussels (french: Ville de Bruxelles or alternatively ''Bruxelles-Ville'' ; nl, Stad Brussel or ''Brussel-Stad'') is the largest municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well a ...
, Belgium. It is located at 25, /, near the State Administrative City. Opened in 1952, it served as 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 pre ...
for 50 years. In 2002, the ticket offices closed and it was downgraded to a train stop. With only few passengers a day using Brussels-Congress, plans were being made to close it completely. However, up to now, none has been executed.


History


Early history (1952–2002)

Brussels-Congress opened as a station in 1952, as part of the subterranean
North–South connection The North–South connection (french: Jonction Nord-Midi, nl, Noord-Zuidverbinding) is a railway link of national and international importance through central Brussels, Belgium, that connects the major railway stations in the city. It is line ...
. It served as a ventilation shaft for the connection, which was then still used by steam trains. 1958 saw the start of works to build the State Administrative City (french: Cité administrative de l'État, link=no or CAE, nl, Rijksadministratief Centrum, link=no or RAC), a complex in the International Style which was to accommodate all of the country's public administration. The construction took 27 years and the area, at its peak, could accommodate 14,000 civil servants. Consequently, the Congress Station became of significant importance for commuting workers. However, with the rise of workers commuting by car, and later on the abandonment of the CAE/RAC buildings, the station fell increasingly out of use.


Contemporary (2002–present)

Since April 2002, when the ticket offices closed, Brussels-Congress has only been in use as a train stop. In 2009, 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 of ...
(NMBS/SNCB) counted 1187 people boarding there every weekday. In 2010, this number was said to be 1499. Even though the number of passengers increased, it remains very low. Because of this and the fact that several other transportation facilities are available in the vicinity, NMBS/SNCB is thinking of closing the train stop completely, this mainly to improve the time accuracy of the trains on the North–South connection. However, no final decision has yet been communicated.


Architecture

The station building was designed by the
modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
architect Maxime Brunfaut at the end of the 1940s. It consists mainly of an above-ground ventilation shaft for the underground
North–South connection The North–South connection (french: Jonction Nord-Midi, nl, Noord-Zuidverbinding) is a railway link of national and international importance through central Brussels, Belgium, that connects the major railway stations in the city. It is line ...
, which Brunfaut smartly used as the basis for his monumental design. The main design features are the stumpy tower and the large cantilevering shed over the entrance. The tower is five floors high and consists of a central bay sticking out of the front facade, housing the service stairs, and six bays to each side of this central one. The facade of the central bay is closed. The front facade of the other bays forms a rhombic net made from
terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
. This net is continued on the highest floor of the side facades. The lower floors of the side facades are closed. On both side facades
bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
s have been applied. The closed front facade of the central bay is also decorated with a bas-relief, made by the sculptor
Jozef Cantré Jozef Cantré (26 December 1890 – 29 August 1957) was a Belgian sculptor and illustrator. He was one of the main artists in the development of the Flemish Expressionism style. Biography Jozef Cantré was born in Ghent in 1890, four years after ...
. The underground entrance is accentuated by the large cantilevering shed with the station's name written on its edge. File:Gara Bruxelles-Congrès 01.jpg, Security entrance File:Station Brussel-Congres Gang.jpg, Corridor File:Station Brussel-Congres Perron.jpg, Platform


Non-profit organisation ''Bruxelles-Congrès''

In 2007, the non-profit organisation ''Bruxelles-Congrès'' was established by a group of eight enthusiastic volunteers. Their goal was to let the public become familiar again with the building by opening up rooms that were previously closed to the public and using them as exhibition spaces for different art forms. They organised different projects in the station building ranging from exhibitions to music concerts. Their last event was dated March 2012.


Train services

Brussels-Congress has four platforms with numbers ranging from 3 to 6. Trains only stop at platform 5 and platform 6; the other two platforms being used by passing trains. Brussels-Congress is only used as a stop on weekdays during the day. The first train departs at 06:22 a.m. and the last train leaves the train stop at 06:49 p.m. During morning rush hour, a maximum of four trains per hour stop in the direction of
Brussels Central Station Brussels Central Station (french: Gare de Bruxelles-Central, nl, Station Brussel-Centraal), officially Brussels-Central (french: Bruxelles-Central, link=no, nl, Brussel-Centraal, link=no), is a railway and metro station in central Brussels, B ...
and five trains in the direction of
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 ...
. During evening rush hour, five trains stop per hour in the direction of Brussels-Central and only three in the direction of Brussels-North. During the rest of the day, only two trains in each direction stop there per hour. The station is served by the following service(s): *Brussels RER services (S1) ''Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Waterloo - Nivelles'' (weekdays)


See also

*
List of railway stations in Belgium This is a list of the busiest railway stations in Belgium sorted by the average number of passengers boarding daily on weekdays in 2014. The province is also listed, unless the station lies within the Brussels-Capital Region and therefore does not ...
*
Rail transport in Belgium Belgium has an extensive rail network. It is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Belgium is 88. History On May 5, 1835, the first railway in continental Europe opened between Brussels-Groendreef/Allé ...
*
Transport in Brussels Brussels has an extensive network of both private or public transportation means. Public transportation includes Brussels buses, trams, the Brussels metro (all three operated by the STIB as well as a set of railway lines (operated by Infrabel) an ...
*
History of 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 ...


References


Notes


External links

{{Railway stations in Brussels Railway stations in Brussels Railway stations opened in 1952 City of Brussels 1952 establishments in Belgium