Antwerpen-Centraal railway station
Antwerpen-Centraal railway station (Dutch: Station Antwerpen-Centraal, French: Gare d'Anvers-Central){{Officially Antwerpen-Centraal (Dutch: Antwerpen-Centraal, French: Anvers-Central)}} is the main railway station in Antwerp, Belgium. It is one of the most important hubs in the country and is one of the four Belgian stations on the high-speed rail network. From 1873 to early 2007, it was a terminal station. The current building, designed by the architect Louis Delacenserie, was built between 1895 and 1905. On 23 March 2007, a tunnel with two continuous tracks was opened under part of the city and under the station. The train services are operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium.[1]
Antwerpen-Centraal  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Railway Station | |||||
.jpg) View of the station from the Koningin Astridplein | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Koningin Astridplein, 2018 Antwerp Belgium | ||||
| Coordinates | 51°13′02″N 4°25′16″E / 51.21722°N 4.42111°E | ||||
| Owned by | NMBS/SNCB | ||||
| Operated by | NMBS/SNCB | ||||
| Line(s) | 12, 25, 27, 59 | ||||
| Platforms | 8 (24) | ||||
| Tracks | 14 | ||||
| Construction | |||||
| Platform levels | 4 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | ANTC | ||||
| IATA code | ZWE | ||||
| History | |||||
| Opened | 11 August 1905 | ||||
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Architecture
changeThe station is widely regarded as the finest example of railway architecture in Belgium,[2] although it is not a particular architectural style. The vast dome above the waiting room hall made it be known as the spoorwegkathedraal ("railroad cathedral").
The originally iron and glass train hall (185 metres long and 44 metres[3] or 43 metres[4] high) was designed by Clément Van Bogaert,[3] an engineer. It covers an area of 12,000 square metres.[4] The height of the station was because of the smoke of steam locomotives. The roof of the train hall was originally made of steel.[4]
In 2009, the American magazine Newsweek judged Antwerpen-Centraal the world's fourth greatest train station.[5] In 2014, the British-American magazine Mashable awarded Antwerpen-Centraal the first place for the most beautiful railway station in the world.[6]
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Frontal view -
Entrance hall -
Ceiling -
The clock at the upper level
References
change- ↑ "ANTWERPEN-CENTRAAL". belgianrail.be. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
- ↑ "Antwerpen-Centraal is mooiste station ter wereld" (in Dutch). 25 August 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Maraite, Louis. "Antwerp Central Station is linking history and future!". The Best in Heritage. SNCB-Holding. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Goethals, Violette. "Projects". Federplast.be. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ Stations: A Destination That Matches the Journey Newsweek New York 10 January 2009
- ↑ All Aboard! 12 Beautiful Railway Stations From Around the World Mashable New York 25 August 2014