Brussels-South railway station

Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid (English: Brussels South, IATA code: ZYR) is the biggest railway station in Brussels, capital of Belgium. The station's bilingual French-Dutch name is often shortened outside Belgium – for example, in the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable — to the (tri-lingual) "Brussels Midi/Zuid". The station is served by the Gare du Midi/Zuidstation station on the Brussels Metro system. 1,000 trains pass every day between Brussels-South and Brussels-North railway stations.

The railway station

The railway station designed by Payen opened in 1869, though a former 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. In 1949 Payen's 1869 terminal station was itself demolished and replaced by a through station on the present site, a short distance south of the original one, as part of the North-South connection project. The station is surrounded by the Avenue Fonsny/Fonsnylaan in the East, the Rue de France/Frankrijkstraat in the West, the Rue Couverte/Bedektestraat in the North and the Rue des Vétérinaires/Veeartsenstraat in 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.

Gallery

The metro and premetro station

The metro station, called Gare du Midi - Zuidstation, opened in 1988 as (at that time) the final stop of metro line 2 from Simonis. Line 2 has since been extended beyond Brussels-South - to Clemenceau in 1993, Delacroix in 2006, and Gare de l'Ouest/Weststation in 2009. Since 1993 the station also accommodates pre-metro (underground tram) services at separate platforms, with cross-platform interchange between metro and pre-metro in both directions.

Following the restructuring of the city's local public transport network in April 2009, the station is now served by two metro lines (2 and 6) as well as two pre-metro lines (3 and 4). It lies under the Rue Couverte/Overdektestraat, in front of the mainline station.

Places of interest

The tallest building in Belgium stands in front of the main exit from the station (the crossroad of Avenue Fonsnylaan and Rue Couverte/Overdekte straat) and is named the South Tower.

External links

• (French) [1] (SNCB)
• (Dutch) [2] (NMBS)
• (English) [3] (map of the station)