1853: Belgium Gets a New Railway Station

June 9, 1853

A railway station in the city of Aalst in northwestern Belgium was opened. This facility was built as one of the stations for the Belgian State Railways, which had been established in 1834 as the country’s first state-owned railway system.

Aalst railway station was designed by architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar (1811-1880). He also designed railway stations in the municipality of Ternat and town of Zandbergen in Belgium. Aalst railway station, which features various elements of a medieval castle, remains intact today as a key surviving example of Cluysenaar’s architectural style.

Aalst railway station is now a depot for trains operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium, which replaced the Belgian State Railways in 1926. This station is also a link for bus and subway services. In addition, there is parking available at Aalst railway station for both automobiles and bicycles.

Photo Credit: Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer); licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

For more information on Aalst railway station, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aalst_railway_station