Schuman station is a railway and metro

Brussels Metro

The Brussels Metro is a rapid transit system serving a large part of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It consists of a network with four metro line services with some shared sections. The metro has 49.9 km of network and 59 stations...

 station in the City of Brussels

City of Brussels

The City of Brussels is the largest municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region, and the official capital of Belgium by law....

. The metro station opened in 1969 and serves the European quarter

Brussels and the European Union

Brussels is considered to be the de facto capital of the European Union, having a long history of hosting the institutions of the European Union within its European Quarter...

 of Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

.

Metro

The Schuman metro station was first opened in 1969 as a "premetro

Premetro

A premetro is a tramway or light railway which includes segments built to rapid transit standards, usually as part of a process of conversion to a metro railway, mainly by the construction of tunnels in the central city area...

" station (i.e., a station served by underground tramways). The metro then replaced the tramways on 20 September 1976. It is now served by the metro lines 1 and 5 (prior to 4 April 2009 by lines 1A and 1B).

Rail

The rail station (called Brussel-Schuman/Bruxelles-Schuman) is an elevated station, though its northeastern end is "underground" as it enters a hillside. Its ticket office is located immediately next to the metro station; at one end of the railway station platforms, a stairway leads down to the Maelbeek/Maalbeek metro station

Maelbeek/Maalbeek metro station

Maalbeek/Maelbeek station is a Brussels metro station in the City of Brussels. The name of the station originates from a stream named Maelbeek.-History:...

. Trains travelling between Brussels South station and Namur

Namur (city)

Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....

 and Luxembourg

Luxembourg (city)

The city of Luxembourg , also known as Luxembourg City , is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg...

 call at the station. The NMBS/SNCB

NMBS/SNCB

The National Railway Company of Belgium, known as the or the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Belges is the Belgian national railway operator.It is usually referred to in English as "Belgian Railways" or the SNCB....

 code for the station is FBSM.

Renovation

The station is currently undergoing major renovation works, increasing the station's capacity by 2 extra tracks. These will connect to a tunnel to the old Schaerbeek-Josaphat station (and marshalling yard) on line 26

Belgian railway line 26

The Belgian railway line 26 is a railway line connecting Brussels to Halle in Belgium. It first opened on July 19, 1926, between the Schaerbeek and Watermael railway stations...

, in order to offer direct quick connections to Antwerp, Leuven

Leuven

Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...

 and Brussels Airport

Brussels National Airport railway station

Brussels National Airport railway station is a terminus train station at Brussels Airport. It was opened in 1958 in the old airport building, mainly for the universal exposition in Brussels. With the opening of a new airport terminal in 1994, the railway station was moved in 1998 to a new location...

. With this third connection, the station will become one of Brussels' largest and have a new glass roof allowing more daylight into the station.

Area

This station is in the centre of the European quarter

Brussels and the European Union

Brussels is considered to be the de facto capital of the European Union, having a long history of hosting the institutions of the European Union within its European Quarter...

 of Brussels, being adjacent to the Berlaymont building

Berlaymont building

The Berlaymont is an office building in Brussels, Belgium that houses the headquarters of the European Commission, which is the executive of the European Union...

 (headquarters of the European Commission

European Commission

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

), the Justus Lipsius building

Justus Lipsius building

The Justus Lipsius building is a building in Brussels that has been the headquarters of the Council of the European Union since 1995. Unlike the European Parliament, visiting is restricted...

 (Council of the European Union

Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union is the institution in the legislature of the European Union representing the executives of member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers...

) and numerous other EU offices. The station is named after the area around the Schuman roundabout

Schuman roundabout

Schuman Roundabout , or Schuman Square, is a roundabout at the end of Rue de la Loi in Brussels that serves as a focus for major institutions of the European Union ....

, which was named after Robert Schuman

Robert Schuman

Robert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...

. The station sits on the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, a major city thoroughfare, and is close to Parc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark

Cinquantenaire

Parc du Cinquantenaire or Jubelpark is a large public, urban park in the easternmost part of the European Quarter in Brussels, Belgium....

.

External links

• A peek on the future Schuman Station - December 9, 2007 ifrancis blog