Central Station aka: Centraal Station, Middenstatie, Antwerpen-Centraal

This beautiful old station is located in the heart of Antwerp, next to the diamond district. I rode a few trains in and out of here many years ago. A few of things that I remember well about this station: Coming into the station you rode right through the middle of town on elevated tracks. I liked looking at the activity going on around.

The other thing that I remember well about the station is that it was a terminal station. All tracks came to a dead end in the station. The trains could not pass through the way that the do in most other stations. They would have to leave on the same track that they came in on, in reverse.

When standing on one of the platforms I would sometimes look up at the enclosed area was under roof in wonderment. It was huge! It felt like a small city under that roof.

When you visit Antwerp, you simply must see the Central Station. Its dome is superb. The station has been undergoing major construction works the past 10-or-so years, and it has recently been completed. The historical parts haven’t been touched, and two extra levels have been added below the original tracks, and it’s done very handsome too.

Currently the event ‘O dierbaar Antwerpen’ is running, and you can see old footage shot in the zoo in a small free theatre in the station.