Brussels-South railway station

Brussels-South
Railway Station

Main entrance
Coordinates 50°50′07″N 4°20′07″E / 50.835161°N 4.335222°ECoordinates: 50°50′07″N 4°20′07″E / 50.835161°N 4.335222°E
Owned by National Railway Company of Belgium
Line(s) 0, 50A, 96, 124
Platforms 22
Other information
Station code FBMZ
History
Opened 1952

Brussels-South (Dutch: Brussel-Zuid, French: Bruxelles-Midi, IATA code: ZYR) 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 every day between Brussels-South and Brussels-North railway stations. The station is connected to the Gare du Midi/Zuidstation station of the Brussels Metro system.

The French name "Midi" derives from mi (middle) and di (day) in Old French; compare Mezzogiorno, the south of Italy. The time of midday was synonymous with the direction of south because in France, as in all of the Northern Hemisphere, the sun is in the south at noon. The polysemy existed in Middle French as well, where meridien can refer to both midday and south.

History

TGV and Thalys share a platform

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. The railway 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.

Features

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.

Train services

The station is served by the following services:[1]

  International connections  
Preceding station   Eurostar   Following station
EurostarTerminus
Preceding station   Thalys   Following station
Terminus
Thalys
toward Essen Hbf
Lille Europe
Terminus
Thalys
toward Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Thalys (winter)
Valence TGV
toward Marseille-Saint-Charles
Thalys (summer)
Preceding station   DB AG   Following station
TerminusICE 79
Brussels-North
towards Frankfurt (Main) Hbf
Preceding station   SNCF   Following station
TerminusTGV
toward Nice
TerminusTGV
Preceding station   EuroCity   Following station
TerminusEuroCity
Brussels-Central
toward Basel SBB
Preceding station   NMBS/SNCB   Following station
TerminusIC J
IC "des Ardennes" & Luxembourg
Brussels-Central
toward Luxembourg
Brussels-Central
NS International 9200Terminus
  National connections  
Preceding station   NMBS/SNCB   Following station
toward Oostende
IC 01
Brussels-Central
toward Eupen
toward Blankenberge and Knokke
IC 03
Brussels-Central
toward Genk
Brussels-Central
IC 05
weekdays
Eigenbrakel
toward Charleroi-Sud
toward Tournai
IC 06
Brussels-Central
toward Mons
IC 06A
toward Binche
IC 11
weekdays
Brussels-Central
toward Turnhout
toward Kortrijk
IC 12
weekdays
Brussels-Central
toward Welkenraedt
toward Quiévrain
IC 14
weekdays
Brussels-Central
TerminusIC 17
weekends
Brussels-Central
toward Dinant
TerminusIC 18
weekdays
Brussels-Central
toward Liège-Palais
Liedekerke
From Monday to Friday, except holidays
IC 20
Brussels-Central
From Monday to Friday, except holidays
toward Tongeren
Liedekerke
On weekends and holidays
Brussels-Central
On weekends and holidays
toward Lokeren
Brussels-Central
From Monday to Friday, except holidays
toward Essen
IC 22Terminus
Brussels-Central
On weekends and holidays
On weekends and holidays
toward Binche
Denderleeuw
toward Oostende
IC 23
Brussels-Central
toward Brugge
IC 23A
toward Kortrijk
IC 26
weekdays
Brussels-Central
toward Sint-Niklaas
Liedekerke
toward De Panne
IC 29
Brussels-Central
toward Landen
Brussels-Central
From Monday to Friday, except holidays
IC 31Terminus
Brussels-Central
On weekends and holidays
Braine-l'Alleud
On weekends and holidays
toward Charleroi-Sud
RER A
Brussels-Central
toward Leuven
TerminusRER C
Brussels-Central
toward Ottignies
Brussels-Central
toward Dendermonde
RER D
Brussels-West
toward Aalst
Brussels-Central
From Monday to Friday, except holidays
RER E
From Monday to Friday, except holidays
toward Nivelles
Brussels-Central
On weekends and holidays
Terminus
Brussels-Chapel
From Monday to Friday, except holidays
RER HTerminus
Brussels-Central
On weekends and holidays
On weekends and holidays
toward Nivelles
TerminusRER J
weekdays
Brussels-Central
toward Louvain-la-Neuve-Université
toward Denderleeuw
RER M
Brussels-Central
toward Schaarbeek
Brussels-Central
toward Dendermonde
RER O
weekdays
Denderleeuw
toward Oudernaarde

Metro and premetro station


Gare du Midi
Zuidstation
Owned by STIB/MIVB
Connections
  Line 3
  Line 4
History
Opened 1988
Services
Preceding station   Brussels Metro   Following station
Porte de Hal/Hallepoort
Line 2
Line 6

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 from two metro lines (2 and 6) as well as two pre-metro lines (3 and 4). It is situated underneath the Rue Couverte/Overdektestraat, in front of the mainline station.

The Belgian Federal State approved a project for the renovation of the station on 12 May 2012 of a total budget of approximately 155 million euro.

iDBus

Since 23 July 2012, SNCF's international coach network, iDBus, serves Brussels South.

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.

References

  1. ↑ Belgian railways timetable brochures

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brussels Midi station.