Antwerpen-Centraal railway station

Antwerp-Central
Railway Station
Location Koningin Astridplein, Antwerp
Coordinates 51°13′02″N 4°25′16″E / 51.21722°N 4.42111°E / 51.21722; 4.42111Coordinates: 51°13′02″N 4°25′16″E / 51.21722°N 4.42111°E / 51.21722; 4.42111
Owned by National Railway Company of Belgium
Line(s) 4, 12, 25, 27
Platforms 14
Construction
Platform levels 4
Other information
Station code ANTC
History
Opened 11 August 1905
Entrance hall
The different levels

Antwerpen-Centraal (Antwerp Central) is the name of the main railway station in the Belgian city of Antwerp. The station is operated by the national railway company NMBS.

History and architecture

The clock at the upper level

The original station building was constructed between 1895 and 1905 as a replacement for the original terminus of the Brussels-Mechelen-Antwerp Railway. The stone clad terminus buildings, with a vast dome above the waiting room hall were designed by Louis Delacenserie and the vast (185 metres long and 44 metres high) iron and glass trainshed by Clement van Bogaert. The viaduct into the station is also a notable structure designed by local architect Jan Van Asperen.

The station is now widely regarded as the finest example of railway architecture in Belgium, although the extraordinary eclecticism of the influences on Delacenserie's design had led to a difficulty in assigning it to a particular architectural style. In W. G. Sebald's novel Austerlitz an ability to appreciate the full range of the styles that might have influenced Delacensiere is used to demonstrate the brilliance of the fictional architectural historian who is the novel's protagonist.

In 2009 the American magazine Newsweek judged Antwerpen-Centraal the world's fourth greatest train station.[1] In 2014 the British-American magazine Mashable awarded Antwerpen-Centraal the first place for the most beautiful railway stations of the world.[2]

Expansion for high-speed trains

In 1998 large-scale reconstruction work began to convert the station from a terminus to a through station. A new tunnel has been excavated between Berchem station in the south of the city and Antwerpen-Dam station in the north, passing under Central station, with platforms on two underground levels. This allows Thalys, HSL 4 and HSL-Zuid high-speed trains to travel through Antwerp Central without the need to turn around (the previous layout obliged Amsterdam-Brussels trains to call only at Berchem or reverse at Central).

The major elements of the construction project were completed in 2007, and the first through trains ran on 25 March 2007.

This complete project has cost approximately €1.6 billion.

The station was awarded a Grand Prix at the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards in 2011.[3][4]

Station layout

Station atrium showing the four levels

The station has four levels and 14 tracks arranged as follows:

Train services

The station is served by the following services:[5]

Tramway in front of the station
Preceding station   NMBS   Following station
toward Paris-Nord
Thalys
Thalys
toward Lille Europe
Thalys (winter)
Thalys (summer)
NS International 9200
TerminusIC 02
toward Oostende
TerminusIC 04
toward Lille and Poperinge
TerminusIC 05
TerminusIC 08
toward Hasselt
TerminusIC 09
From Monday to Friday, except holidays
toward Leuven
Terminus
On weekends and holidays
TerminusIC 10
toward Hamont and Hasselt
IC 15Terminus
From Monday to Friday, except holidays
toward Essen
IC 22
From Monday to Friday, except holidays
Terminus
On weekends and holidays
toward Binche
TerminusIC 28
weekends
TerminusIC 30
toward Turnhout
TerminusIC 31
weekdays
TerminusIC 31
weekends
toward Roosendaal
SNCB-NMBS L 22
toward Puurs
TerminusSNCB-NMBS L 23
toward Leuven
TerminusSNCB-NMBS L 24
weekdays
toward Mol
TerminusSNCB-NMBS L 30
toward Lokeren
TerminusS 1
weekdays
toward Nivelles
TerminusS 1
weekends

In popular culture

A staged "flash mob"-like event at the station in early 2009, featuring the song "Do-Re-Mi" from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music, became a viral video. It was performed by 200 dancers of various ages, along with several dozen waiting passengers who just jumped in and joined the dance themselves. The video was produced to publicize Op zoek naar Maria, the Belgian TV version of the BBC talent competition programme How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, about the search for an actress to play the lead role in a stage revival of The Sound of Music.[6]

The station is used in Agatha Christie's Poirot episode "The Chocolate Box" to represent a station in Brussels.

The beginning of Austerlitz, the final novel of the German writer W. G. Sebald is set in the station.

References

  1. ↑ Jaime Cunningham, "Stations: A Destination That Matches the Journey", Newsweek, New York, 10 January 2009.
  2. ↑ Dennis Green, "All Aboard! 12 Beautiful Railway Stations From Around the World", Mashable, New York, 25 August 2014.
  3. ↑ http://www.europanostra.org/laureates-2011/
  4. ↑ http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-11-695_en.htm
  5. ↑ Belgian railways timetable brochures
  6. ↑ Op zoek naar Maria video on YouTube

External links

Media related to Antwerp Central Station at Wikimedia Commons

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