Brussels Airport-Zaventem railway station (Dutch: Station Brussels Airport-Zaventem; French: Gare de Brussels Airport-Zaventem)[a] is a railway station located beneath Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Flemish Brabant, Belgium. The station opened in 1958 on railway line 36C; in 2012, the new line 25N was added. It was formerly called Brussels-National-Airport railway station (Dutch: Station Brussel-Nationaal-Luchthaven; French: Gare de Bruxelles-National-Aéroport)[b] until April 2016. The train services are operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB).
The station was opened in 1958 in the old airport building, mainly for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo 58). With the opening of a new airport terminal in 1994, the railway station was moved in 1998 to a new location inside the new building. Following the completion of the new Diabolo project, the station was extended in June 2012 to enhance the comfort and passenger experience. The trains arrive and leave from level -2, with ticket desks on level -1. Passengers can go to the different floors in the airport and railway station by using a set of escalators and lifts, a couple of metres away from the platforms.
After the bomb attacks of 22 March 2016, the station was closed and all trains were either deviated or cancelled until further notice. Shuttle bus services were put in place between Zaventem railway station and the airport. The airport station itself was undamaged, but it is connected to a part of the airport building that was severely damaged during the attacks.
With the Schuman-Josaphat tunnel entering into service on 4 April 2016, a new connection was established to connect Brussels Airport directly to the stations of the European Quarter (Brussels-Schuman and Brussels-Luxembourg).[2] This brought the travel time between the airport and the European Quarter to about 15 minutes.[3][4][5] The tunnel was originally scheduled to open on 12 December 2015, but it was delayed due to the Brussels lockdown. When it eventually opened in April 2016, it could not yet be used to its full potential as the airport station remained closed following the Brussels bombings.
Train service to the airport station resumed on 22 April 2016, temporarily using the entrance/exit of the old airport station. On 8 June 2016, service via the regular station resumed.[6]
Features
The railway station connects the airport directly to Brussels' main Brussels, including the international Brussels-South and centrally-located Brussels-Central stations. The railway stations of Leuven and Mechelen can also be directly reached from the airport. From all these stations, one can easily travel to every city of Belgium; there are direct trains to Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Halle or Mons.
There is no dedicated car park but Brussels Airport car parks are available a short walk away, without any discount for rail customers.
Train services
The station has direct services to most major Belgian cities, as well as a regular service to the Netherlands. The only major town that does not yet have a direct line to the airport is Liège. Passengers travelling to Liège can connect at Leuven railway station.
The station is served by the following services:
High speed service: (Thalys) Brussels Airport - Brussels - Paris (summer seasonal)
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