Kortrijk railway station

Kortrijk railway station (Dutch: Station Kortrijk, French: Gare de Courtrai)[a] is the main railway station in Kortrijk, West Flanders, Belgium. The station was first inaugurated on 22 September 1839. With around 10,000 passengers per day, Kortrijk is the fifteenth-busiest railway station in Belgium, and the second in West Flanders.[1] It is operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB).[2]

Kortrijk
Railway Station
Kortrijk railway station
General information
LocationStationsplein,
8500 Kortrijk
Belgium
Coordinates50°49′27″N 3°15′50″E / 50.82417°N 3.26389°E / 50.82417; 3.26389
Owned byNMBS/SNCB
Operated byNMBS/SNCB
Platforms8
Other information
Station codeKORT
History
Opened22 September 1839; 184 years ago (1839-09-22)
Map
Location
Kortrijk is located in Belgium
Kortrijk
Kortrijk
Location within Belgium
Kortrijk is located in Europe
Kortrijk
Kortrijk
Kortrijk (Europe)

The following railway lines converge in this station: line 66 (Bruges–Kortrijk) and line 75 (Ghent–Mouscron). Railway lines 69 (Kortrijk–Ieper–Poperinge) and 89 (Denderleeuw–Kortrijk) begin just outside the station. Several national Intercity-trains, Interregio-trains and local trains also stop there, as do international trains like the Intercity-train to Lille-Flandres station in Lille, France.

History edit

The first railway line, connecting Kortrijk to Ghent, was inaugurated on 22 September 1838 by King Leopold I and Queen Louise-Marie. The first railway station on this site was inaugurated in 1839.

The building itself was enlarged several times. The second building opened in 1857 and was enlarged in 1876. This monumental building originally included a glass and iron construction covering the platforms and rails. This construction and the original building were severely damaged during World War II.

After the war, a brand new station was inaugurated on 7 July 1956. The structure covering the platforms and rails was demolished and replaced by awnings covering the platforms.

 
NMBS rolling stock in Kortrijk station

Train services edit

The station is served by the following services:

  • Intercity services (IC-04) Lille/Poperinge - Kortrijk - Ghent - Sint-Niklaas - Antwerp
  • Intercity services (IC-12) Kortrijk - Ghent - Brussels - Leuven - Liege - Welkenraedt (weekdays)
  • Intercity services (IC-12) Kortrijk - Ghent (weekends)
  • Intercity services (IC-23) Ostend - Bruges - Kortrijk - Zottegem - Brussels - Brussels Airport
  • Intercity services (IC-26) Kortrijk - Tournai - Halle - Brussels - Dendermonde - Lokeren - Sint Niklaas (weekdays)
  • Intercity services (IC-32) Bruges - Roeselare - Kortrijk
  • Local services (L-05) Kortrijk - Oudenaarde - Ghent - Eeklo (weekdays)
Preceding station   NMBS/SNCB Following station
Mouscron IC 04 Waregem
Bissegem
towards Poperinge
Terminus IC 12
weekdays, except holidays
Harelbeke
towards Welkenraedt
IC 12
weekends
Harelbeke
Ingelmunster
towards Oostende
IC 23 Oudenaarde
Terminus IC 26
weekdays
Mouscron
towards Sint-Niklaas
Ingelmunster
towards Brugge
IC 32 Terminus
Terminus L 05
weekdays
Vichte
towards Eeklo

Railway stations in Kortrijk edit

Other railway stations in Kortrijk are:

  • Kortrijk-Vorming railway station (previously called Congostatie)
  • Bissegem railway station

Former railway stations in Kortrijk are:

  • Aalbeke railway station
  • Heule railway station
  • Heule-Leiaarde railway station
  • Kortrijk-Weide railway station
  • Kortrijk-West railway station
  • Marke railway station
  • Sint-Katerine railway station

See also edit

References edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ Officially Antwerpen-Centraal (Dutch: Kortrijk, French: Courtrai)

Citations edit

  1. ^ NMBS Reizigerstellingen 2007 (in Dutch/French)[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "KORTRIJK". www.belgianrail.be. Retrieved 6 November 2023.

External links edit