Charleroi-South (French: Charleroi-Sud) is the main railway station serving Charleroi, Belgium. Charleroi-South is also the main TEC bus station in Charleroi, and a station of the Charleroi metro.
The first railway connection to Charleroi is inaugurated in 1843, when the Belgian state railway company (Compagnie de l'État Belge) opens an indirect line from Brussels to Charleroi (via Braine-le-Comte), continuing to Namur.
1848: opening of a line by the Compagnie de l'Entre Sambre et Meuse to Walcourt and Morialmé, to support local extractive industries.
1852: opening of a line by the Compagnie du Nord Belge to connect Charleroi with its Northern French network, via Erquelinnes.
1855: opening of a line by the Compagnie du Grand Central Belge to Ottignies.
1874: opening of the current more direct line to Brussels, via Nivelles. The current station building is inaugurated the same year.
1949: the line to Brussels is electrified, making the second railway line in Belgium to be electrified after the Brussels to Antwerp line in 1935.
June 2011: after seven years of work, the renovated station is inaugurated. Renovation includes the exterior of the 1874 building, the interior (including a new shopping gallery), tunnels, as well as the square in front of the station.
The station was served by a daily Thalys high speed service to Paris between 1998 and 31 March 2015.
The station is served by the following services:
Intercity services (IC-05) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Nivelles - Charleroi (weekdays)
Intercity services (IC-19) Lille - Tournai - Saint-Ghislain - Mons - Charleroi - Namur
Intercity services (IC-24) Charleroi - Walcourt - Mariembourg - Couvin
Intercity services (IC-25) Mons - Charleroi - Namur - Huy - Liege (weekdays)
Intercity services (IC-25) Mouscron - Tournai - Saint-Ghislain - Mons - Charleroi - Namur - Huy - Liege - Liers (weekends)
Intercity services (IC-27) Brussels Airport - Brussels-Luxembourg - Nivelles - Charleroi (weekdays)
Intercity services (IC-31) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Nivelles - Charleroi (weekends)
Local services (L-06) Luttre - Manage - La Louvière - Charleroi (weekdays)
Local services (L-06) Manage - La Louvière - Charleroi (weekends)
Local services (L-06A) Manage - Luttre - Charleroi (weekends)
Local services (L-07) Erquelinnes - Lobbes - Charleroi
Local services (L-14) Ottignies - Fleurus - Charleroi - Tamines - Namur - Jambes
In addition to the above services, additional peak time trains are scheduled on weekdays (mornings and end of afternoons).
The Charleroi-South pre-metro station, simply known as South (French: Sud) on network maps, was opened in 1976. Along with Vilette, Sud was the first station to enter service on the Charleroi pre-metro. Located at street level, Sud was a dead-end station until the opening of the last section of the central loop of the Charleroi metro, on February 27, 2012.
The Charleroi-South bus station is the main TEC bus transfer point in Charleroi. An express bus line (line A) serves the Brussels South Charleroi Airport.
