Brussels-North railway station

The very first railway station in Brussels was Allée Verte/Groendreef railway station near the site of today's Yser/IJzer metro station, north of the City of Brussels. It was from there that, on 5 May 1835, the first passenger train on a public railway in continental Europe departed.[2][3]

This first station was replaced in March 1846 by a new monumental station on the Place Charles Rogier/Karel Rogierplein, a short distance east from the original site, on the territory of the municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode. Designed by the architect François Coppens in neoclassical style, this second "North Station" (French: Gare du Nord, Dutch: Noordstation) was a single-storey railway complex that stretched in width from the Rue d'Aerschot/Aarschotstraat to the Rue du Progrès/Vooruitgangsstraat, and in length, from the Place Rogier to the Avenue de la Reine/Koninginnelaan (nowadays a tunnel). To connect the neighbourhoods on both sides of the railway, there were only two pedestrian bridges: one at the Place Rogier and the other at the Rue Dupont/Dupontstraat. It consisted of 27 tracks.

The Belgian railway network grew rapidly during the second half of the 19th century, becoming the densest in continental Europe. By then, Brussels-North and Brussels-South had become the primary railway stations in Brussels. However, they were joined only by an inadequate single track running along what is today the Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road). 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.

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  Allée Verte/Groendreef railway station (1835), pictured in the early 20th century
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  The second station on the Place Charles Rogier/Karel Rogierplein (1846), pictured c. 1910
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  The second station's interior, c. 1884

A new transit station, located a few hundred metres further north, was built in 1952. It was designed in post-war modernist style by architects Jacques and Paul Saintenoy, assisted by Jean Hendrickx Vanden Bosch. The construction of the North–South connection between 1910 and 1953 ensured a train connection between the new station and the South Station. During the construction of the North–South connection, the tracks were raised and several underpasses were added. The old station on the Place Rogier was razed in 1955. A bus station was built on its former site, and then in 1960, the Rogier International Centre, also called the Martini Tower, which was formerly the tallest building in Belgium, and which housed the National Theatre of Belgium until 1999. The building was demolished in 2001, and was replaced by the 137-metre-tall (449 ft) Rogier Tower.[4] A group of statues from the station's former facade were reconstructed at the Warandepark in Diest, Flemish Brabant, Belgium.

An extensive public transport complex, the North Communication Center (or CCN), was built on the western side of the North Station in the 1970s. As a result, the station building (on the side of the Boulevard Simon Bolivar/Simon Bolivarlaan) is now part of this larger complex. The CCN connects the bus stop of De Lijn and STIB/MIVB, as well as the premetro, with the railway station. In 1992, the Brussels-Capital Region decided to erect an Art Deco-inspired office building for its officials above the CCN. Due to the construction of this CCN and the large volume of the office building above it, the architectural appearance of the North Station with its iconic clock tower was diminished.

Renovation works started in May 2010. The ticket hall was the first to be renovated and completed in 2012. The renovation works have been systematically continued since then. The intention is, among other things, to install new escalators and lifts and for the Rue d'Aerschot to have a fully-fledged entrance. Unlike the South Station, which was largely remodelled for the arrival of international express trains, the North Station has kept most of its post-war materials and decorative elements, highlighted during this recent renovation. The station has also kept its original clock tower.

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  The third (current) Brussels-North station's entrance and clock tower by Paul Saintenoy (1952–1956)
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  View of the North Station's tracks. The clocktower can be seen in the background.
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  The CCN building (on the left) and entrance to the North Station

• Wolmar, Christian (2010). Blood, Iron & Gold: How the Railways transformed the World. London: Grove Atlantic. ISBN 978-1-84887-171-7.