Brussels-South railway station

Geschiedenis

Brussels-South is the biggest railway station in Brussels, capital of Belgium. As Brussels is a bilingual entity, both the French and Dutch names are official. This often leads to the usage of combined shorthands outside Belgium: for example in the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable, Brussels-South is designated as "Brussels Midi/Zuid"; Dutch Railways announce the station as "Brussel Zuid/Midi". 1,000 trains pass between Brussels-South and Brussels-North railway stations every day. The station is connected to the Gare du Midi/Zuidstation station of the Brussels Metro system.HistoryA station known as Station des Bogards/Bogaardenstation existed since 1840 near the Place Rouppeplein in the southern part of the city. It was demolished 29 years later as it was already too small. A new station designed by Payen opened in 1869 a short distance south of the original one. Payen's terminal station was itself demolished in 1949 and replaced by a through station on the present site as part of the North-South connection project.FeaturesThe station is surrounded by the Avenue Fonsny/Fonsnylaan to the east, the Rue de France/Frankrijkstraat to the west, the Rue Couverte/Bedektestraat to the north and the Rue des Vétérinaires/Veeartsenstraat to the south. In the 1990s, the Eurostar terminal was added on the Rue de France/Frankrijkstraat side. This contains two bay platforms with no onward northbound connection.