Brussels-South railway station, also known as Brussels-Midi railway station (; ), is a major

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium. Geographically, it is located in Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis on the border with the adjacent municipality of

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

and just south of the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels is the largest List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the ...

. Brussels-South is one of over a dozen railway stations in Brussels, and one of the three principal rail stations in the heart of the city, the two others being Brussels-Central and Brussels-North. The station, which was a terminus when it was inaugurated in 1869, became a transit station with the opening of the

North–South connection The North–South connection (; ) is a railway link of national and international importance through central Brussels, Belgium, that connects the major railway stations in the city. It is line 0 (zero) of the Belgian rail network. With 1200 t ...

in 1952. Nowadays, it is the busiest station in Belgium, and is the only Brussels stop for international

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

services

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, ...

(including the former

Thalys Thalys (French: ) was a brand name used for high-speed rail, high-speed train services between Paris Gare du Nord and both Amsterdam Centraal and German cities in the Rhein-Ruhr, including Aachen, Köln Hauptbahnhof, Cologne, Düsseldorf Hauptba ...

) and

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

. It is operated by the

National Railway Company of Belgium The National Railway Company of Belgium (, NMBS; , SNCB; ) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de Ve ...

(SNCB/NMBS). Underneath Brussels-South is the

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

Gare du Midi/Zuidstation station on lines 2, 4, 6 and 10 of the

Brussels Metro The Brussels Metro ( ; ) is a rapid transit system serving a large part of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It consists of four conventional metro lines and three '' premetro'' lines. The metro-grade lines are M1, M2, M5, and M6 wi ...

and '' premetro'' (underground tram) systems, which serves as an important node of the Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company (

STIB/MIVB The Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company ( or ; or ) is the local public transport operator in Brussels, Belgium. It is usually referred to in English by the double acronym STIB/MIVB, or by its French acronym, STIB. STIB/MIVB is responsi ...

Naming

The station was named after ''Le Midi'', the French name of the region of

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

, as trains departing from this station in the 19th century had that region as their final destination. The term derives from ('middle') and ('day') in

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

. The name , as the Dutch "translation" of , was only introduced after the

equality law of 1898.focusonbelgium.be
/ref> The Brussels-Capital Region is Multilingualism">bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

; hence, both the French and Dutch names of the station— and —are official. Outside Belgium, this often leads to the use of combined shorthands; for example in the ''Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable'', Brussels-South is designated as '' /''; Nederlandse Spoorwegen, NS (Dutch Railways) announce the station as ''Brussel Zuid/Midi''.

History

First station (1839–1869)

A first station known as Bogards' railway station (, ) had existed, since 1839, near the Place Rouppe/Rouppeplein in the southern part of the

, so-called for the former

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

of the Bogards'

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

whose site it was built on, and to which the / is now the only reference. This station, which quickly took the name "South Station" (, ), served as the six-track terminus of the South Line, a southbound railway line linking Brussels to the industrial towns of

Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

and

La Louvière La Louvière (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pie ...

, at the heart of the ''

Sillon industriel The ''Sillon industriel'' (, "industrial furrow") is the former industrial backbone of Belgium. It runs across the region of Wallonia, passing from Dour, the region of Borinage, in the west, to Verviers in the east, passing along the way throug ...

'' in Hainaut, Belgium, before crossing the French border (near

Quiévrain Quiévrain (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006, the municipality had 6,559 inhabitants. The total area is 21.22 km2, giving a population density of 309 inhabitants per km2. The ...

), where a connecting line could reach

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

, in northern France. The former presence of a station at this location also explains the unusual width of the current /, which goes from the Place Rouppe to the

Small Ring The Small Ring (, ; , ) inner ring road, formally R20 and N0, is a series of roadways in central Brussels, Belgium, surrounding the historic city centre. The city centre is usually defined as the area within the Small Ring; this area is call ...

(Brussels' inner ring road), a reminder of the train tracks that used to run in its middle.

Second station (1869–1949)

The Belgian railway network grew rapidly during the second half of the 19th century, becoming the densest in

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

. By then, Brussels-North and Brussels-South had become the primary railway stations in Brussels (Brussels-North slowly supplanted the original / railway station near the same site). However, they were joined only by an inadequate single track running along what is today the Small Ring. Many proposals were put forward to link the two stations more substantially. A law was finally passed in 1909 mandating a direct connection; however, the final project would not be completed until nearly half a century later. Around 1860, the South Station had reached saturation point and its location too close to the city centre began to cause problems, so the authorities decided to demolish it. A new monumental station, designed by the architect

Auguste Payen Auguste Payen (1801–1877) was a Belgian architect whose work included civic buildings in Brussels and railway stations for the Belgian State Railways. Life Payen was born in Brussels on 7 June 1801. His father, of the same name, was also an arc ...

in neoclassical style, opened in 1869, a short distance south from the original site, on the territory of the municipality of Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis. The entrance was shaped like a

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

, richly decorated with sculptures by Joseph Ducaju. In 1880, an

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

statue of

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

, the Greek goddess of victory riding a chariot, by the sculptor Louis Samain, was placed on the roof of the station as a tribute to railway engineering. In front of the station, a large public square, known as the / ("Constitution Square"), was created, acting as an entry to the city for its many

commuter Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...

s. File:Bruxelles Midi 1920s.jpg, The second Brussels-South railway station (1869), pictured in 1927 File:Bruxelles, Ancienne Gare de Midi 08.jpg, The second station's main façade and

, File:Ancienne gare du Midi et place de la Constitution.jpg, The / in front of the second station

Current station (1949–present)

Payen's terminal station was itself demolished in 1949, as part of the

project, and replaced by a transit station on its present site along the Avenue Fonsny/Fonsnylaan. Most of the current buildings were erected between 1939 and 1954, in post-war functionalist style, from plans by architects Adrien and Yvan Blomme and Fernand Petit. Work on the connection also led to the station's immediate surroundings to be reorganised. The railway tracks were raised and extended onto a

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

towards the city centre, with shops under it and a covered street; the / (formerly the /), along which trams run. Since the 1990s, the South Station and the district adjacent to it have undergone profound transformation. The rear part of the station, designed in 1992 by the architect Marc De Vreese, and built in front of the /, serves as a terminal for

high-speed train High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single def ...

s. On Saint-Gilles' side, expropriation plans have led, since 2012, to the creation of modern office blocks constituting a tertiary economic sector along the Avenue Fonsny, as well as extensions of the station along the /, the two arteries that surround the station. This business centre located a stone's throw from the city centre, is intended, in the spirit of the public authorities, to mirror the Northern Quarter

business district Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessar ...

(also called ''Little Manhattan''), located near the North Station, on the opposite side of the city centre. File:Brussels-South railway station - panoramio.jpg, The third (current) Brussels-South station (1952) on Avenue Fonsny/Fonsnylaan File:Bruxelles-Midi Brussel - Zuid - panoramio.jpg, Terminal building (1992) on the / File:Station Brussel-Zuid Gebouw.jpg, Brussels-South railway station entrance File:Station Brussel-Zuid Perron 6.jpg, View of the South Station's platforms and tracks

Features

The station is surrounded by the Avenue Fonsny/Fonsnylaan to the east, the / to the west, the / to the north and the / to the south. In the 1990s, the

terminal was added on the Rue de France's side. This part contains two bay platforms with no onward northbound connection. A tripartite agreement was signed by Belgium, France and the UK on 15 May 1993, which permitted British officials to carry out pre-embarkation immigration controls for passengers travelling on direct

train services from Brussels to London and Belgian officials to carry out pre-embarkation immigration controls at London Waterloo International (and subsequently

St Pancras International St Pancras railway station (), officially known since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a major central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is the terminus for Eurostar services from Belgium, F ...

) station for passengers travelling in the other direction. As a result of this agreement,

juxtaposed controls Juxtaposed controls (in , or ; in ) are a reciprocal arrangement between Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom whereby border controls on certain cross- Channel routes take place before boarding the train or ferry, rather than ...

were set up in the station. On 1 October 2004, an administrative arrangement was signed by Belgium, France and the UK to extend juxtaposed controls to Eurostar services between London and Brussels which make a stop in Lille. Eurostar passengers travelling to the UK clear exit checks from the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

(carried out by the

Belgian Federal Police The Belgian Federal Police (; ; ) is the national police force of the Belgium, Kingdom of Belgium. It carries out specialized and supra-local administrative and judicial police operations, and supports local police services when needed. A ...

) as well as UK entry checks (conducted by the

UK Border Force Border Force (BF) is a British law enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in the United Kingdom. The force was part of the now defunct UK Border Agency from it ...

) in the station before boarding their train. On the other hand, Eurostar passengers travelling to Lille Europe or Calais-Fréthun remain within the Schengen Area and are therefore not subject to border checks. Accordingly, they go through a different departure area in the station (bypassing the juxtaposed controls for passengers heading to the UK) and travel in a separate designated coach (available in standard class only) controlled by security guards, who ensure that all of these passengers disembark at Lille/Calais before the train continues to the UK.

Train services

The station is served by the following services: *High speed services (''

'') London - Lille - Brussels *High speed services (''Eurostar'') London - Brussels - Rotterdam - Amsterdam *High speed services (''Eurostar'') Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Antwerp - Brussels - Paris *High speed services (''Eurostar'') Dortmund - Essen - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Liège - Brussels - Paris *High speed services (''Eurostar'') Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Antwerp - Brussels - Lille *High speed services (''Eurostar'') Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Antwerp - Brussels - Chambéry - Bourg-Saint-Maurice ''(seasonal, winter)'' *High speed services (''Eurostar'') Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Antwerp - Brussels - Avignon - Marseille ''(seasonal, summer)'' *High speed services (''

Intercity Express Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this category) is a high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands as part of cross-border services. It ...

'') Brussels - Liège - Cologne - Frankfurt *High speed services (''

'') Brussels - Lille - Charles de Gaulle Airport - Lyon - Avignon - Marseille *High speed services (''TGV'') Brussels - Lille - Charles de Gaulle Airport - Lyon - Nîmes - Montpellier - Perpignan *High speed services (''TGV'') Brussels - Lille - Charles de Gaulle Airport - Strasbourg *High speed services (

ICD The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is a globally used medical classification that is used in epidemiology, health management and clinical diagnostics, diagnosis. The ICD is maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO), which ...

35) Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Breda - Antwerp - Brussels Airport - Brussels *''

European Sleeper European Sleeper (stylised as european sleeper) is a Belgian–Dutch cooperative which operates a thrice-weekly Open-access operator, open-access night train service between Brussels and Prague, with plans to expand to daily service in the near ...

'' service Brussels - Amsterdam - Berlin - Prague *Intercity services (IC 01) Ostend - Bruges - Ghent - Brussels - Leuven - Liège - Welkenraedt - Eupen *Intercity services (IC 03) Blankenberge - Bruges - Ghent - Brussels - Leuven - Hasselt - Genk *Intercity services (IC 16) Brussels - Namur - Arlon - Luxembourg *Intercity services (IC 05) Essen - Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Nivelles - Charleroi ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 06) Tournai - Ath - Halle - Brussels - Brussels Airport *Intercity services (IC 06A) Mons - Braine-le-Comte - Brussels - Brussels Airport *Intercity services (IC 07) Charleroi - Nivelles - Brussels - Antwerp ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 11) Binche - Braine-le-Comte - Halle - Brussels - Mechelen - Turnhout ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 11) Binche - Braine-le-Comte - Halle - Brussels - Scharbeek ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 12) Kortrijk - Ghent - Brussels - Leuven - Liège - Welkenraedt ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 13) Kortrijk - Denderleeuw - Brussels - Schaarbeek ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 14) Quiévrain - Mons - Braine-le-Comte - Brussels - Leuven - Liège ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 16/34) Brussels - Namur - Arlon - Luxembourg *Intercity services (IC 17) Brussels - Namur - Dinant ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 18) Brussels - Namur - Liège ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 20) Ghent - Aalst - Brussels - Hasselt - Tongeren ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 20) Ghent - Aalst - Brussels - Dendermonde - Lokeren ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 22) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels *Intercity services (IC 23) Ostend - Bruges - Kortrijk - Zottegem - Brussels - Brussels Airport *Intercity services (IC 23A) Knokke - Bruges - Ghent - Brussels - Brussels Airport *Intercity services (IC 26) Kortrijk - Tournai - Halle - Brussels - Dendermonde - Lokeren - Sint Niklaas ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 29) Gent - Aalst - Brussels - Brussels Airport - Leuven - Landen ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 29) De Panne - Gent - Aalst - Brussels - Brussels Airport - Leuven - Landen ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 31) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels ''(weekdays)'' *Intercity services (IC 31) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Nivelles - Charleroi ''(weekdays)'' *Regional services (S1) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Waterloo - Nivelles ''(weekdays)'' *Regional services (S1) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels ''(weekdays)'' *Regional services (S1) Brussels - Waterloo - Nivelles ''(weekdays)'' *Regional services (S2) Leuven - Brussels - Halle - Braine-le-Comte *Regional services (S3) Dendermonde - Brussels - Denderleeuw - Zottegem ''(weekdays)'' *Regional services (S3) Schaarbeek - Brussels - Denderleeuw - Zottegem ''(weekdays)'' *Regional services (S6) Aalst - Denderleeuw - Geraardsbergen - Halle - Brussels - Schaarbeek ''(weekdays)'' *Regional services (S6) Denderleeuw - Geraardsbergen - Halle - Brussels - Schaarbeek ''(weekdays)'' *Regional services (S8) Brussels - Etterbeek - Ottignies - Louvain-le-Neuve *Regional services (S10) Dendermonde - Brussels - Denderleeuw - Aalst

Metro and ''premetro'' station

The

metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

, called Gare du Midi/Zuidstation, opened on 2 October 1988 as (at that time) the terminus 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 '' premetro'' (underground tram) services at separate platforms, with

cross-platform interchange A cross-platform interchange is a type of Interchange station, interchange between different lines at a metro (or other railway) station. The term originates with the London Underground; such layouts exist in other networks but are not commonly ...

between metro and ''premetro'' in both directions.

Connections

International buses

Since 23 July 2012,

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

's international coach network, OUIBUS (taken over by

BlaBlaBus BlaBlaCar bus, formerly BlaBlaBus, Ouibus or iDBUS, operates intercity coach services in Europe. Currently, BlaBlaCar Bus serves Aix-en-Provence, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Genoa, Lille, London, Lyon, Marseille, Milan, Nice, Paris, Paris ...

in 2018), has served Brussels-South. * Paris - Lille - Brussels * Amsterdam - Brussels (from 28 April 2014) * Amsterdam - Brussels - London (from 28 April 2014)

Other bus services

A shuttle service to

Brussels South Charleroi Airport Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA), informally called Brussels-Charleroi Airport, Charleroi Brussels-South or Charleroi Airport , is an international airport located in Gosselies, part of the city of Charleroi, Belgium. The airport is no ...

leaves from a stop located on the /.

Places of interest

The South Tower, the tallest building in Belgium, stands in front of the station's main exit (the crossroad of the Avenue Fonsny/Fonsnylaan and the /) and houses the Belgian Federal Pensions Service (FPS).

References

Footnotes

Citations

Bibliography

* * *

External links

*
Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid page at b-europe.com
{{Eurostar navbox Railway stations in Brussels Railway stations served by Eurostar Saint-Gilles, Belgium Railway stations in Belgium opened in 1952 Railway stations in Belgium opened in 1869 Juxtaposed border controls