Central station (Antwerp)
Encyclopedia
Antwerpen-Centraal is the name of the main railway station in the Belgian
city of Antwerp. The station is operated by the national railway company NMBS.
and the vast (185 metres long and 44 metres high) iron and glass trainshed by Clement van Bogaert. The viaduct into the station is also a notable structure designed by local architect Jan Van Asperen.
The station is now widely regarded as the finest example of railway architecture in Belgium, although the extraordinary eclecticism of the influences on Delacenserie's design had led to a difficulty in assigning it to a particular architectural style. In W. G. Sebald
's novel Austerlitz
an ability to appreciate the full range of the styles that might have influenced Delacensiere is used to demonstrate the brilliance of the fictional architectural historian who is the novel's protagonist
.
In 2009 the American magazine Newsweek
judged Antwerpen-Centraal the world's fourth greatest train station.
, HSL 4
and HSL-Zuid
high-speed trains to travel through Antwerp Central without the need to turn around (the previous layout obliged Amsterdam-Brussels trains to call only at Berchem or reverse at Central).
The major elements of the construction project are now complete, and the first through trains ran on 25 March 2007.
This complete project has cost approximately €1.6 billion.
-like event at the station in early 2009 became a viral video
, and featured the song Do-Re-Mi
from the Rodgers and Hammerstein
musical The Sound of Music
. It was performed by 200 dancers of various ages, along with several dozen waiting passengers who just jumped in and joined the dance themselves. The video was produced to publicize Op zoek naar Maria
, the Belgian TV version of the BBC talent competition program How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
, about the search for an actress to play the lead role in a stage revival of The Sound of Music.
The station is used in Agatha Christie's Poirot
episode "The Chocolate Box" to represent a station in Brussels.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
city of Antwerp. The station is operated by the national railway company NMBS.
History and architecture
The original station building was constructed between 1895 and 1905 as a replacement for the original terminus of the Brussels-Mechelen-Antwerp Railway. The stone clad terminus buildings, with a vast dome above the waiting room hall were designed by Louis DelacenserieLouis Delacenserie
Louis Delacenserie was a Belgian architect from Bruges. The spelling of his name differs greatly; De la Censerie, Delasencerie, Dela Censerie or Dela Sencerie are the most common alternative forms. His father was a merchant and building contractor from Tournai.Delacenserie studied architecture at...
and the vast (185 metres long and 44 metres high) iron and glass trainshed by Clement van Bogaert. The viaduct into the station is also a notable structure designed by local architect Jan Van Asperen.
The station is now widely regarded as the finest example of railway architecture in Belgium, although the extraordinary eclecticism of the influences on Delacenserie's design had led to a difficulty in assigning it to a particular architectural style. In W. G. Sebald
W. G. Sebald
W. G. Maximilian Sebald was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was being cited by many literary critics as one of the greatest living authors and had been tipped as a possible future winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature...
's novel Austerlitz
Austerlitz (novel)
Austerlitz is the final novel of W. G. Sebald, published in 2001. The book received the National Book Critics Circle Award.-Plot summary:...
an ability to appreciate the full range of the styles that might have influenced Delacensiere is used to demonstrate the brilliance of the fictional architectural historian who is the novel's protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
.
In 2009 the American magazine Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
judged Antwerpen-Centraal the world's fourth greatest train station.
Expansion for high-speed trains
In 1998 large-scale reconstruction work began to convert the station from a terminus to a through station. A new tunnel has been excavated between Berchem station in the south of the city and Antwerpen-Dam station in the north, passing under Central station, with platforms on two underground levels. This will allow ThalysThalys
Thalys is an international high-speed train operator originally built around the high-speed line between Paris and Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar trains that go from Paris or Brussels to London via Lille and the Channel Tunnel and with French domestic TGV trains. Thalys reaches...
, HSL 4
HSL 4
The HSL 4 is a Belgian high-speed rail line which connects Brussels to the Dutch border. 87 km long , it was scheduled for completion by 2007.Together with the HSL 1 to the French border and HSL-Zuid to Amsterdam, the line has shortened journeys between Brussels,...
and HSL-Zuid
HSL-Zuid
HSL-Zuid , is a 125 km-long high-speed railway line in the Netherlands to the Belgian border, with a branch to Breda. Together with the Belgian HSL 4 it forms the Schiphol–Antwerp high-speed railway...
high-speed trains to travel through Antwerp Central without the need to turn around (the previous layout obliged Amsterdam-Brussels trains to call only at Berchem or reverse at Central).
The major elements of the construction project are now complete, and the first through trains ran on 25 March 2007.
This complete project has cost approximately €1.6 billion.
Station layout
The station has four levels and 14 tracks arranged as follows:- Level +1: The original station, 6 terminating tracks, arranged as two groups of three and separated by a central opening allowing views of the lower levels
- Level 0: Houses ticketing facilities and commercial space
- Level −1: 7 m below street level, 4 terminating tracks, arranged in two pairs
- Level −2: 18 m below street level, 4 tracks, leading to the two tracks of the tunnel under the city (used by high-speed trains and fast domestic InterCity services)
Services
Popular culture
A staged "flash mob"Flash mob
A flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, artistic expression...
-like event at the station in early 2009 became a viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
, and featured the song Do-Re-Mi
Do-Re-Mi
"Do-Re-Mi" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Within the story, it is used by Maria to teach the notes of the major musical scale to the Von Trapp children who learn to sing for the first time, even though their father has disallowed frivolity after...
from the Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
musical The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
. It was performed by 200 dancers of various ages, along with several dozen waiting passengers who just jumped in and joined the dance themselves. The video was produced to publicize Op zoek naar Maria
Op zoek naar Maria
Op zoek naar Maria is a talent competition program that aired in Belgium on Vtm. It premiered on 25 March 2009.The premise of the series was to find a musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2009 Albert Verlinde and Roel Vente revival of The Sound of Music at the...
, the Belgian TV version of the BBC talent competition program How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? was a British television talent series, that was broadcast on Saturday evenings on BBC One between 29 July and 16 September 2006. It documented the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2006 Andrew...
, about the search for an actress to play the lead role in a stage revival of The Sound of Music.
The station is used in Agatha Christie's Poirot
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Agatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by ITV Studios...
episode "The Chocolate Box" to represent a station in Brussels.
External links
- Official station page at the SNCB website