Brussels-Congress railway station

Geschiedenis

Brussels Congress is a train stop on the North-South connection in the city of Brussels, Belgium. It is located on the Pachecolaan. Opened in 1952, it served as a train station 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 (May 2017) none have been executed.History1952-2002Brussels Congress opened as a station in 1952 as part of the subterranean North-South connection. It served as a ventilation shaft for the connection, which was then still used by steam trains. In 1958 the construction works of the Rijksadministratief Centrum started, a building which was to accommodate all of the country's administrative services. The construction took 27 years and the building, at its peak, could accommodate 14,000 civil servants. Consequently, the Congress station became of significant importance for the commuting workers. However, with the rise of workers commuting by car, and later on the abandonment of the RAC building, the station got more and more out of use.2002-2014Since April 2002, when the ticket offices closed, it has only been in use as a train stop. In 2009 the Belgian Railways counted 1187 people boarding at Brussels Congress every weekday. In 2010 this number was said to be 1499. Even though the number of passengers increased, it remains very low. With the number of passengers being so low and several other transportation facilities being available in the vicinity, the Belgian Railways are thinking of closing the Brussels Congress train stop completely, this mainly to improve the accuracy of the trains on the North-South connection. However, no final decision has been communicated yet.