Mechelen railway station

Mechelen railway station (Dutch: Station Mechelen; French: Gare de Malines)[a] is a railway station in Mechelen, Antwerp, Belgium. The station opened on 5 May 1835 on railway lines 25, 27 and 53. The train services are operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB).[1]

Mechelen
Railway Station
Mechelen railway station building in 2021, before demolition
General information
LocationMechelen, Antwerp
Belgium
Coordinates51°01′03″N 4°29′01″E / 51.01750°N 4.48361°E / 51.01750; 4.48361
Owned byNMBS/SNCB
Operated byNMBS/SNCB
Line(s)25, 27, 53
Platforms10
Tracks10
Other information
Station codeFM
History
Opened5 May 1835; 189 years ago (1835-05-05)
Map
Location
Mechelen is located in Belgium
Mechelen
Mechelen
Location within Belgium
Mechelen is located in Europe
Mechelen
Mechelen
Mechelen (Europe)

History

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On 5 May 1835, the first public train journey on the European mainland arrived near the station.[2] The train line stopped just south of the station, as there was no bridge over the canal until 1836. Lines were built in all directions from the station: North to Antwerp, south to Brussels and France, east to Leuven, Liège and Verviers and west to Dendermonde, Ghent, Bruges and Ostend.

In 2013, major plans to modernise and rebuild the station started. This project is called Mechelen in Beweging.[3] A 3-level underground car park has since been constructed. The current station buildings and tracks will be demolished and replaced. The building work is expected to take more than a decade as the work will need to be carried out platform by platform to retain enough capacity for the station.

Features

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The station has twelve platforms; the six on the eastern side are a few metres higher than the others. In 2012, a new high-speed railway (line 25N) opened between Mechelen and Schaerbeek, in northern Brussels. This line also links Mechelen with Brussels Airport. Platforms 11 and 12 were added to the station in December 2020 to accommodate the additional trains from this line.[4]

To the east of the station is the large Mechelen Train Works, where trains receive maintenance and heavy works, such as refurbishment.

Train services

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The following services currently serve the station:

  • Intercity services (IC-05) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Nivelles - Charleroi
  • Intercity services (IC-08) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels Airport - Leuven - Hasselt
  • Intercity services (IC-11) Binche - Braine-le-Comte - Halle - Brussels - Mechelen - Turnhout (weekdays)
  • Intercity services (IC-21) Ghent - Dendermonde - Mechelen - Leuven
  • Intercity services (IC-22) Essen - Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels (weekdays)
  • Intercity services (IC-22) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Halle - Braine-le-Comte - Binche (weekends)
  • Intercity services (IC-31) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels (weekdays)
  • Intercity services (IC-31) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Nivelles - Charleroi (weekends)
  • Intercity services (IC-35) Amsterdam - The Hague - Rotterdam - Roosendaal - Antwerp - Brussels Airport - Brussels
  • Local services (L-02) Zeebrugge - Bruges – Ghent – Dendermonde – Mechelen (weekdays)
  • Local services (L-20) Sint-Niklaas – Mechelen – Leuven (weekdays)
  • Local services (L-20) Mechelen - Leuven (weekends)
  • Local services (L-27) Sint-Niklaas - Mechelen (weekends)
  • Local services (L-28) Ghent - Dendermonde - Mechelen (weekends)
  • Brussels RER services (S1) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels - Waterloo - Nivelles (weekdays)
  • Brussels RER services (S1) Antwerp - Mechelen - Brussels (weekends)
  • Brussels RER services (S5) Mechelen - Brussels-Luxembourg - Etterbeek - Halle - Enghien (- Geraardsbergen)
  • Brussels RER services (S7) Mechelen - Merode - Halle
Preceding station   NS International Following station
Antwerpen-Berchem Intercity Direct 9200 Brussels National Airport
Preceding station   NMBS/SNCB Following station
Antwerpen-Berchem IC 05 Bruxelles-Nord / Brussel-Noord
IC 08 Brussels National Airport
towards Hasselt
Vilvoorde
towards Binche
IC 11 Lier
towards Turnhout
Londerzeel IC 21 Muizen
towards Leuven
Mechelen-Nekkerspoel
towards Essen
IC 22
weekdays, except holidays
Vilvoorde
Mechelen-Nekkerspoel IC 22
weekends
Vilvoorde
towards Binche
IC 31
weekdays, except holidays
Vilvoorde
IC 31
weekends
Vilvoorde
Kapelle-op-den-Bos L 02
weekdays
Terminus
Willebroek
towards Sint-Niklaas
L 20
weekdays, except holidays
Muizen
towards Leuven
Terminus L 20
weekends
Willebroek
towards Sint-Niklaas
L 27
weekends
Terminus
Kapelle-op-den-Bos L 28
weekends
Mechelen-Nekkerspoel S 1
weekdays
Weerde
towards Nivelles
S 1
weekends
Weerde
Terminus S 5 Weerde
towards Enghien
S 7 Muizen
towards Halle

See also

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References

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Officially Mechelen (Dutch: Mechelen; French: Malines)

Citations

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  1. ^ "MECHELEN". www.belgianrail.be. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  2. ^ Wolmar 2010, p. 18–20.
  3. ^ "Mechelen in Beweging" [Mechelen on the move] (in Dutch).
  4. ^ "Opening bijkomende spoorlijn en perrons 11&12" [Opening additional railway line and platforms 11&12] (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 April 2021.

Bibliography

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