Mechelen railway station

Location
	Mechelen Location within Belgium Mechelen Mechelen (Europe)

Mechelen
Mechelen
Railway Station
	Mechelen railway station building in 2021, before demolition
General information
Location	Mechelen, Antwerp; Belgium
Coordinates	51°01′03″N 4°29′01″E / 51.01750°N 4.48361°E
Owned by	NMBS/SNCB
Operated by	NMBS/SNCB
Line(s)	25, 27, 53
Platforms	10
Tracks	10
Other information
Station code	FM
History
Opened	5 May 1835; 189 years ago
Location
Location
	Mechelen Location within Belgium Mechelen Mechelen (Europe)

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]

History

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

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

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 towards Amsterdam Centraal		Intercity Direct 9200	Brussels National Airport towards Brussels-South
Preceding station	NMBS/SNCB		Following station
Antwerpen-Berchem towards Antwerpen-Centraal		IC 05	Bruxelles-Nord / Brussel-Noord towards Charleroi-Sud
Antwerpen-Berchem towards Antwerpen-Centraal		IC 08	Brussels National Airport towards Hasselt
Vilvoorde towards Binche		IC 11	Lier towards Turnhout
Londerzeel towards Gent-Sint-Pieters		IC 21	Muizen towards Leuven
Mechelen-Nekkerspoel towards Essen		IC 22 weekdays, except holidays	Vilvoorde towards Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid
Mechelen-Nekkerspoel towards Antwerpen-Centraal		IC 22 weekends	Vilvoorde towards Binche
		IC 31 weekdays, except holidays	Vilvoorde towards Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid
		IC 31 weekends	Vilvoorde towards Charleroi-Sud
Kapelle-op-den-Bos towards Zeebrugge-Dorp		L 02 weekdays	Terminus
Willebroek towards Sint-Niklaas		L 20 weekdays, except holidays	Muizen towards Leuven
Terminus		L 20 weekends	Muizen towards Leuven
Willebroek towards Sint-Niklaas		L 27 weekends	Terminus
Kapelle-op-den-Bos towards Gent-Sint-Pieters		L 28 weekends	Terminus
Mechelen-Nekkerspoel towards Antwerpen-Centraal		S 1 weekdays	Weerde towards Nivelles
Mechelen-Nekkerspoel towards Antwerpen-Centraal		S 1 weekends	Weerde towards Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid
Terminus		S 5	Weerde towards Enghien
Terminus		S 7	Muizen towards Halle

References

Footnotes

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

Citations

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

Bibliography

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

External links

Mechelen railway station at Belgian Railways website

[fn1-1] Officially Mechelen (Dutch: Mechelen; French: Malines)

[2] "MECHELEN". www.belgianrail.be. Retrieved 6 November 2023.

[FOOTNOTEWolmar201018–20-3] Wolmar 2010, p. 18–20.

[4] "Mechelen in Beweging" [Mechelen on the move] (in Dutch).

[5] "Opening bijkomende spoorlijn en perrons 11&12" [Opening additional railway line and platforms 11&12] (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 April 2021.

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