Brussels-Congress railway station

Coordinates: 50°51′8″N 4°21′43″E / 50.85222°N 4.36194°E / 50.85222; 4.36194
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Brussels-Congres railway station
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Brussels-Congress
Railway Station
General information
LocationBoulevard Pacheco / Pachecolaan 25
1000 City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region
Belgium
Coordinates50°51′8″N 4°21′43″E / 50.85222°N 4.36194°E / 50.85222; 4.36194
Owned bySNCB/NMBS
Operated bySNCB/NMBS
Tracks4
History
Opened4 October 1952; 71 years ago (1952-10-04)
Passengers
20101,500/weekday
Services
Preceding station NMBS/SNCB Following station
Bruxelles-Nord / Brussel-Noord
towards Antwerpen-Centraal
 S 1 Brussels-Central
towards Nivelles
Map
Location
Brussels-Congress is located in Belgium
Brussels-Congress
Brussels-Congress
Location within Belgium
Brussels-Congress is located in Europe
Brussels-Congress
Brussels-Congress
Brussels-Congress (Europe)

Brussels-Congress railway station (

railway station
for 50 years. In 2002, the ticket offices closed and it was downgraded to a train stop. With only few passengers a day using Brussels-Congress, plans were being made to close it completely. However, up to now, none has been executed.

History

Further information: History of rail transport in Belgium and North–South connection

Early history (1952–2002)

Brussels-Congress opened as a station in 1952, as part of the subterranean

International Style which was to accommodate all of the country's public administration. The construction took 27 years and the area, at its peak, could accommodate 14,000 civil servants.[1]
Consequently, the Congress Station became of significant importance for commuting workers. However, with the rise of workers commuting by car, and later on the abandonment of the CAE/RAC buildings, the station fell increasingly out of use.

Contemporary (2002–present)

Since April 2002, when the ticket offices closed, Brussels-Congress has only been in use as a train stop.[2] In 2009, the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB/NMBS) counted 1,187 people boarding there every weekday. In 2010, this number was said to be 1,499.[3] Even though the number of passengers increased, it remains very low. Because of this and the fact that several other transportation facilities are available in the vicinity, SNCB/NMBS is thinking of closing the train stop completely, this mainly to improve the time accuracy of the trains on the North–South connection. However, no final decision has yet been communicated.

Architecture

The station building was designed by the

bas-reliefs have been applied. The closed front facade of the central bay is also decorated with a bas-relief, made by the sculptor Jozef Cantré.[2]
The underground entrance is accentuated by the large cantilevering shed with the station's name written on its edge.

  • Security entrance
    Security entrance
  • Corridor
    Corridor
  • Platform
    Platform

Non-profit organisation Bruxelles-Congrès

In 2007, the non-profit organisation Bruxelles-Congrès was established by a group of eight enthusiastic volunteers.[4] Their goal was to let the public become familiar again with the building by opening up rooms that were previously closed to the public and using them as exhibition spaces for different art forms. They organised different projects in the station building ranging from exhibitions to music concerts. Their last event was dated March 2012.[5]

Train services

Brussels-Congress has four platforms with numbers ranging from 3 to 6. Trains only stop at platform 5 and platform 6; the other two platforms being used by passing trains. Brussels-Congress is only used as a stop on weekdays during the day. The first train departs at 6.22 a.m. and the last train leaves the train stop at 6.49 p.m. During morning rush hour, a maximum of four trains per hour stop in the direction of

Brussels Central Station and five trains in the direction of Brussels-North railway station
. During evening rush hour, five trains stop per hour in the direction of Brussels-Central and only three in the direction of Brussels-North. During the rest of the day, only two trains in each direction stop there per hour.

The station is served by the following service(s):

  • Brussels RER services (S1) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Waterloo - Nivelles (weekdays)

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Officially Brussels-Congress (French: Bruxelles-Congrès; Dutch: Brussel-Congres)

Citations

  1. ^ Bellon, Michaël (July 7, 2007). "Het Rijksadministratief Centrum: In memoriam RAC". Brusselnieuws. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9789054876281
    .
  3. ^ Vandeput, Steven. "Vraag over "de mogelijke sluiting van de stations Brussel-Congres en Brussel-Kapellekerk"". Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  4. ^ Stevenheydens, Ive (July 11, 2008). "Brussel-Congres: ambtenarenstationnetje gaat swingen". Brusselnieuws. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  5. ^ Heymans, Djess (January 5, 2014). "Een vergeten station in het hart van onze stad: Brussel-Congres". Retrieved May 31, 2014.

External links

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