Bruxelles Central

Introduction

Brussels Central Station, located in Brussels, Belgium, is the busiest railway station in Belgium and one of the three main railway stations in Brussels. The station is mainly based on domestic passenger flow. The Brussels Central Station was built in 1952. Brussels Central Station has 6 stocks and 3 island platforms.

Brussels Central Station is named for its proximity to the city centre, just a 10-minute walk from the Grand Place. Despite its strategic location, Brussels Central Station is similar to the commuter station, not the main railway terminal. Its facilities are less than the city's main station, Bruxelles-Midi, while the ICEs and Thalys trains to and from the Belgian capital do not stop at Bruxelles-Central.

Platform

It is the only station in the city that has been passing by. So if you travel by train in the heart of Brussels and Amsterdam, between The Hague or Rotterdam, it is better to take the Intercity train on Brussels than to ride Salisbury. In particular, the Brussels International Intercity train is now directly connected to the Amsterdam Intercity direct train in Rotterdam.

At Brussels Central Station, the platform and passenger access are located in the tunnel (similar to the subway station), but they have been widely used as part of the recently completed in-site update.

However, frequent trains start quickly and continuously from each platform, so be careful to ensure that you are on the right train. Make sure that the electronic train departure indicator is visible where you are waiting on the platform.

As with most other Belgian stations, the platform/ticket station is not partitioned, in part because no trains (including InterCity trains) in the centre of Brussels can be booked. People tend to gather in the middle of the platform, close to the exit of the escalator on the platform.

Therefore, if you are away from the crowd, it will be easier to board the train, which will increase your chances of finding a seat. However, the best option is to board the train from the nearest door on arrival and then find the seat faster on the train.

When arriving by train, if you have luggage, it is worth looking for an escalator on each platform, so you don't have to take the stairs.

Please check the sign carefully because there is a group of escalators that can only enter other stations and cannot enter the exit. When you come up from the escalator, you will be in the lower lobby. A small staircase will cause the escalator to go straight to the street, but the escalator will not go directly to the main entrance. When you leave from this exit, the main entrance will be on the left.

Lille Flandres

Lille Flandres is the main railway station of Lille, capital of French Flanders. It is a terminus for SNCF Intercity and regional trains. It opened in 1842 as the Gare de Lille, but was renamed in 1993 when Lille Europe station opened. There is a 500m walking distance between the two stations, which are also adjacent stops on one of the lines of the Lille Metro.

The station was built by Léonce Reynaud and Sydney Dunnett for the CF du Nord. Construction began in 1869 and ended in 1892. The station front is the old front from Paris' Gare du Nord and was dismantled then reassembled in Lille at the end of the 19th century; an extra storey, as well as a large clock, were added to the original design. Dunnett added the Hôtel des Voyageurs in 1887, and the rooftop in 1892.

Brussels (French: Bruxelles [bʁysɛl] or [bʁyksɛl]; Dutch: Brussel [ˈbrʏsəl] ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest), is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region (in which it forms an enclave) and the Walloon Region. Brussels is the most densely populated and the richest region in Belgium in terms of GDP per capita. It covers 161 km2 (62 sq mi), a relatively small area compared to the two other regions, and has a population of 1.2 million. The metropolitan area of Brussels counts over 2.1 million people, which makes it the largest in Belgium. It is also part of a large conurbation extending towards Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven and Walloon Brabant, home to over 5 million people.Brussels grew from a small rural settlement on the river Senne to become an important city-region in Europe. Since the end of the Second World War, it has been a major centre for international politics and the home of numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, including its administrative-legislative, executive-political, and legislative branches (though the judicial branch is located in Luxembourg, and the European Parliament meets for a minority of the year in Strasbourg) and its name is sometimes used metonymically to describe the EU and its institutions. The secretariat of the Benelux and headquarters of NATO are also located in Brussels. As the economic capital of Belgium and one of the top financial centres of Western Europe with Euronext Brussels, it is classified as an Alpha global city. Brussels is a hub for rail, road and air traffic, sometimes earning the moniker "Crossroads of Europe". The Brussels Metro is the only rapid transit system in Belgium. In addition, both its airport and railway stations are the largest and busiest in the country.Historically Dutch-speaking, Brussels saw a language shift to French from the late 19th century. The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual in French and Dutch, even though French is now the de facto main language with over 90% of the population speaking it. Brussels is also increasingly becoming multilingual. English is spoken as a second language by nearly a third of the population and many migrants and expatriates speak other languages.Brussels is known for its cuisine and gastronomy, as well as its historical and architectural landmarks; some of them are registered as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Main attractions include its historic Grand Place, Manneken Pis, Atomium, and cultural institutions such as La Monnaie and the Museums of Art and History. Because of its long tradition of Belgian comics, Brussels is also hailed as a capital of the comic strip.

Lille ( LEEL; French: [lil] ; Dutch: Rijsel [ˈrɛisəl]; Picard: Lile; West Flemish: Rysel) is a city at the northern tip of France, in French Flanders. On the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord department, and the main city of the European Metropolis of Lille. As of 2015, Lille had a population of 232,741 within its administrative limits,. Lille is the first city of the Métropole Européenne de Lille with a population of 1,182,127, making it the fourth largest urban area in France after Paris, Lyon and Marseille.