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Brussels-Central railway station
Coordinates	50°50′44″N 4°21′25″E / 50.84556°N 4.35694°E / 50.84556; 4.35694Coordinates: 50°50′44″N 4°21′25″E / 50.84556°N 4.35694°E / 50.84556; 4.35694
Opening	October 4, 1952 (1952-10-04)
Telegraphic code	FBCL
Railway line(s)	North-South Junction Metro 1A and 1B
Platforms	6
NMBS/SNCB information page

Bruxelles-Central / Brussel-Centraal (Brussels Central) is a metro and railway station in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium.

History

Designed by Victor Horta and inaugurated in 1952 as part of the North-South Junction project to connect the main railway lines in Brussels, it lies midway between the other main stations Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid and Bruxelles-Nord / Brussel-Noord.

Rail station

The railway station has six tracks, served by three island platforms. These are underground, beneath the city blocks within the "Boulevard de l'Impératrice/Keizerinlaan", "Rue de l'Infante Isabelle/Infante Isabella straat", "Kantersteen" and "Rue de la Putterie/Putterijstraat".

Platform on the lowest level

As for the main entrance and ticket office, they are at ground level on Keizerinlaan/Imperatrice, and there are several other entrances on the other streets. Renovation work on the station was expected to finish in 2007. Now that the renovations are almost finished, these pictures are outdated.

Although Brussels' central station is at the very heart of the city, the capacity is not adapted to the modern standards on international train stations. The interior and the platforms have been renotated in recent years, but the main problem (the capacity) is questionned a lot. There've been ideas to expand the station, but none of them is accepted. Today, most of the trains enter a platform less than 1 minute after his predecessor has left.

Metro station

Five minutes' walk from the railway station through a pedestrian tunnel, there is a Brussels Metro station, also called Gare Centrale - Centraal Station. It is located under the "Marché au bois/Houtmarkt".

This was first opened as a premetro station on 17 December 1969 on the tram line between De Brouckère and Schuman. This premetro line was upgraded to full metro status on 20 September 1976 and today lies on the joint section of lines 1 and 5 that cross Brussels from east to west.

See also

• Murder of Joe Van Holsbeeck
• List of railway stations in Belgium