Opened 1869 Architect Auguste Payen | Station code FBMZ Platforms in use 22 | |
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Owned by National Railway Company of Belgium Address Avenue Fonsny 47B, 1060 Brussel, Belgium Owner National Railway Company of Belgium Similar Brussels Central Station, Brussels‑North railway station, Grand Place, Gare du Nord, Antwerp Central station | ||
Brussels south railway station evening spotting 11 05 13
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 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.
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Brussels south railway station
History
A 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.
Features
The 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.
Train services
The station is served by the following services:
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 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 with a total budget of approximately 155 million euro.
Ouibus
Since 23 July 2012, SNCF's international coach network, OUIBUS, serves Brussels South.
Other bus services
A shuttle service to Brussels South Charleroi Airport leaves from a stop located in Rue de France/Frankrijkstraat.
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.