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 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 Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

s in

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; the other two are Brussels-Central and Brussels-South. Every regular domestic and international train (except

Thalys Thalys (French: ) is a French-Belgian high-speed rail, high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Gare du Nord, Paris and Brussels-South railway station, Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar tr ...

and

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operate ...

) passing there has a planned stop. The station has 200,000 passengers per week, mainly commuters, making it one of the busiest in Belgium. Brussels-North is the end point of the ''

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. Hist ...

'' (underground tram)

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 ...

(on lines 3 and 4), and an important node of the Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company (

STIB/MIVB The Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company (french: Société des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles or ; nl, Maatschappij voor het Intercommunaal Vervoer te Brussel or ) is the local public transport operator in Brussels, Belgium. It is ...

), as well as of bus lines of the Flemish transport company

De Lijn Vlaamse Vervoersmaatschappij De Lijn (English: Flemish transport company ''De Lijn''), usually known as De Lijn (, "The Line"), is a company run by the Flemish government in Belgium to provide public transportation with about 2240 buses and 399 tr ...

. More than 30 regional bus lines depart from there, as do international

Eurolines Eurolines is a brand of intercity bus service owned by an international non-profit organisation formed under Belgian law. Using the Eurolines brand, partner bus companies operate service to over 600 destinations in 36 countries of Europe, as wel ...

coach services. The station is located in the Brussels municipality of

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 the middle of the Northern Quarter

business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

(also called ''Little Manhattan''), with several corporation headquarters such as

Belgacom Towers The Proximus Towers (french: Tours Proximus, nl, Proximus-torens, known as the Belgacom Towers before the company's name change) are twin skyscrapers on the / in the Northern Quarter central business district of Brussels, Belgium. The buildings ...

Rogier Tower The Rogier Tower (french: Tour Rogier, nl, Rogiertoren) is a skyscraper located in the Northern Quarter central business district of Brussels, Belgium. It owes its name to the Place Charles Rogier/Karel Rogierplein on which it is situated. It ...

and others, government offices, as well as Flemish ministries. Right next to the station is the Rue d'Aerschot/Aarschotstraat, an area of prostitution "behind windows".

Naming

The Brussels-Capital Region is

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all ...

; hence, both the French and Dutch names of the station— and —are official. Outside Belgium, this often leads to the use of combined shorthands; for example in the ''

Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable The ''European Rail Timetable'', more commonly known by its former names, the ''Thomas Cook European Timetable'', the ''Thomas Cook Continental Timetable'' or simply ''Cook's Timetable'', is an international timetable of selected passenger rail ...

'', Brussels-North is designated as '' /''; NS (Dutch Railways) announce the station as ''Brussel Noord/Nord''. The station's bilingual French–Dutch name is otherwise generally translated in English to ''Brussels-North''.

History

First and second stations (1835–1952)

The very first railway station in Brussels was / railway station near the site of today's

Yser/IJzer metro station Yser (French) or IJzer (Dutch) is a Brussels Metro station on the northern segment of lines 2 and 6. It opened on 2 October 1988 and is located under the Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road) between the / and the / in the municipality of t ...

, north of 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 centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the Fl ...

. It was from there that, on 5 May 1835, the first passenger train on a public railway in

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

departed. This first station was replaced in March 1846 by a new monumental station on the Place Charles Rogier/Karel Rogierplein, a short distance east from the original site, on the territory of the municipality of

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode () or Sint-Joost-ten-Node (), often simply called Saint-Josse or Sint-Joost, 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 Ci ...

. Designed by the architect François Coppens in neoclassical style, this second "North Station" (french: Gare du Nord, link=no, nl, Noordstation, link=no) was a single-storey railway complex that stretched in width from the Rue d'Aerschot/Aarschotstraat to the /, and in length, from the Place Rogier to the / (nowadays a tunnel). To connect the neighbourhoods on both sides of the railway, there were only two pedestrian bridges: one at the Place Rogier and the other at the /. It consisted of 27 tracks. The Belgian railway network grew rapidly during the second half of the 19th century, becoming the densest in

. By then, Brussels-North and Brussels-South had become the primary railway stations in Brussels. However, they were joined only by an inadequate single track running along what is today the

Small Ring The Small Ring (french: Petite Ceinture, nl, Kleine Ring) inner ring road, formally R20 and N0 is a series of roadways in central Brussels, Belgium, surrounding the historic city centre. The city centre is usually defined as the area within ...

(Brussels' inner ring road). Many proposals were put forward to link the two stations more substantially. A law was finally passed in 1909 mandating a direct connection; however, the final project would not be completed until nearly half a century later. File:Groendreefstation.jpg, / railway station (1835), pictured in the early 20th century File:Ancienne Gare du Nord Bruxelles.jpg, The second station on the Place Charles Rogier/Karel Rogierplein (1846), pictured File:Bruxelles à travers les âges (1884) (14761172734).jpg, The second station's interior,

Current station (1952–present)

In 1952, a new transit station, located a few hundred metres further north, was built. It was designed in post-war

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

style by architects Jacques and Paul Saintenoy, assisted by Jean Hendrickx Vanden Bosch. The construction of 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 ...

between 1910 and 1953 ensured a train connection between the new station and the

South Station South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan ...

. During the construction of the North–South connection, the tracks were raised and several underpasses were added. The old station on the Place Rogier was razed in 1955. A bus station was built on its former site, and then in 1960, the Rogier International Centre, also called the Martini Tower, which was formerly the tallest building in Belgium, and which housed the National Theatre of Belgium until 1999. The building was demolished in 2001, and was replaced by the

. A group of statues from the station's former facade were reconstructed at the Warandepark in

Diest Diest () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around ...

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hain ...

, Belgium. An extensive public transport complex, the North Communication Center (or CCN), was built on the western side of the North Station in the 1970s. As a result, the station building (on the side of the /) is now part of this larger complex. The CCN connects the bus stop of

and

, as well as the ''

'', with the railway station. In 1992, the Brussels-Capital Region decided to erect an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

-inspired office building for its officials above the CCN. Due to the construction of this CCN and the large volume of the office building above it, the architectural appearance of the North Station with its iconic clock tower was diminished. Renovation works started in May 2010. The ticket hall was the first to be renovated and completed in 2012. The renovation works have been systematically continued since then. The intention is, among other things, to install new escalators and

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobil ...

s and for the Rue d'Aerschot to have a fully-fledged entrance. Unlike the South Station, which was largely remodelled for the arrival of international express trains, the North Station has kept most of its post-war materials and decorative elements, highlighted during this recent renovation. The station has also kept its original

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

. File:Brussels North station (DSCF7427).jpg, The third (current) Brussels-North station's entrance and

Paul Saintenoy Paul Saintenoy (19 June 1862 – 18 July 1952) was a Belgian architect, teacher, architectural historian, and writer. Family ] Born in 1862 in Ixelles, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium, Saintenoy was the son of the architect Gustave Sainte ...

(1952–1956) File:Brussel-Noord - Bruxelles-Nord - panoramio.jpg, View of the North Station's tracks. The clocktower can be seen in the background. File:BRUSSELS NORD STATION BELGIUM JULY 2012 (7690722576).jpg, The CCN building (on the left) and entrance to the North Station

Rail lines

Brussels-North has 12 platforms. These passenger lines join in the station: * North-South connection, Line 0, the Brussels North-South connection * Line 25 and 27 to Antwerp Central station * Line 36 to Liège-Guillemins * Line 50 to Gent-Sint-Pieters * Line 161 to Namur Few trains originate from Brussels-North. Instead, most trains through Brussels depart from Brussels-South, some from Schaarbeek. Noordstation1

Train services

The station is served by the following services:Belgian railways timetable brochures in English
* High speed services (''ICE'') Brussels - Liege - Cologne - Frankfurt * Intercity services (IC-35) Amsterdam - The Hague - Rotterdam - Roosendaal - Antwerp - Brussels Airport - Brussels * Intercity services (IC-16) Brussels - Namur - Arlon - Luxembourg * Intercity services (IC-01) Ostend - Bruges - Gent - Brussels - Leuven - Liege - Welkenraedt - Eupen * Intercity services (IC-03) Knokke/Blankenberge - Bruges - Gent - Brussels - Leuven - Hasselt - Genk * Intercity services (IC-05) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Nivelles - Charleroi (weekdays) * Intercity services (IC-06) Tournai - Ath - Halle - Brussels - Brussels Airport * Intercity services (IC-06A) Mons - Braine-le-Comte - Brussels - Brussels Airport * Intercity services (IC-11) Binche - Braine-le-Comte - Halle - Brussels - Mechelen - Turnhout (weekdays) * Intercity services (IC-12) Kortrijk - Gent - Brussels - Leuven - Liege - Welkenraedt (weekdays) * Intercity services (IC-14) Quiévrain - Mons - Braine-le-Comte - Brussels - Leuven - Liege (weekdays) * Intercity services (IC-17) Brussels - Namur - Dinant (weekends) * Intercity services (IC-18) Brussels - Namur - Liege (weekdays) * Intercity services (IC-20) Gent - Aalst - Brussels - Hasselt - Tongeren (weekdays) * Intercity services (IC-20) Gent - Aalst - Brussels - Dendermonde - Lokeren (weekends) * 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-23) Ostend - Bruges - Kortrijk - Zottegem - Brussels - Brussels Airport * Intercity services (IC-23A) Bruges - Gent - Brussels - Brussels Airport (weekdays) * Intercity services (IC-23A) Gent - Brussels - Brussels Airport (weekends) * Intercity services (IC-26) Kortrijk - Tournai - Halle - Brussels - Dendermonde - Lokeren - Sint Niklaas (weekdays) * Intercity services (IC-29) De Panne - Gent - Aalst - Brussels - Brussels Airport - Leuven - Landen * Intercity services (IC-31) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels (weekdays) * Intercity services (IC-31) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Nivelles - Charleroi (weekends) * Brussels RER services (S1) ''Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Waterloo - Nivelles'' (weekdays) * Brussels RER services (S1) ''Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels'' (weekends) * Brussels RER services (S1) ''Brussels - Waterloo - Nivelles'' (weekends) * Brussels RER services (S2) ''Leuven - Brussels - Halle - Braine-le-Comte'' * Brussels RER services (S3) ''Dendermonde - Brussels - Denderleeuw - Zottegem - Oudenaarde'' (weekdays) * Brussels RER services (S6) ''Aalst - Denderleeuw - Geraardsbergen - Halle - Brussels - Schaarbeek'' * Brussels RER services (S8) ''Brussels - Etterbeek - Ottignies - Louvain-le-Neuve'' * Brussels RER services (S10) ''Dendermonde - Brussels - Denderleeuw - Aalst''

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{Railway stations in Brussels Railway stations in Brussels Railway stations opened in 1846 Railway stations opened in 1852 Schaerbeek 1852 establishments in Belgium Railway stations in Belgium opened in 1846 Railway stations in Belgium opened in 1852