Following on from my previous guides to Gare du Midi and Gare Centrale I decided that I had better finish up the set by doing the last of the major stations in Brussels with this guide to Brussels Gare du Nord.

As the name says this is the North station, and like the other two lies on the main north-south rail lines running through the city.  I guess the most surprising thing to me is that there are three major stations so close together; especially given that there isn’t the history of different rail companies all needing a station in the city to compete with each other like you got in London for example.  You can walk from one to the other without too much difficulty.

Gare du Nord is now part of the financial district of the city, surrounded by the glass and steel skyscrapers of the banks, and insurance companies and the Belgian communications company.  It is however clearly much older than the majority of these buildings.  When you first approach it from the city centre, you first notice the clock tower, standing tall next to the elevated railway tracks themselves.It has a distinctly Art Deco look to it, even though wikipedia says that it only dates from 1952.  The thing that surprised me though is that this is only a small part of the station, the bigger area is the big 60′s looking building on the left.  The one that looks distinctly brutalist in style, resembling a power station more than a railway station to my eyes.

Please click on the pictures in the gallery as I have described them in more detail, hopefully giving a good flavour of the station and what you will find when you get there. Please feel free to ask questions or make observations in the comments below.