Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station

Gent-Sint-Pieters
Gent-Sint-Pieters
	Railway Station
Location	Koningin Maria Hendrikaplein, Ghent, Belgium
Coordinates	51°02′07″N 3°42′35″E
Owned by	National Railway Company of Belgium
Line(s)	50, 50A, 58, 59, 75
Platforms	12
Tracks	12
Construction
Bicycle facilities	17.000 (under construction)
Other information
Station code	GSTP
History
Opened	1912
Rebuilt	2010-...

Gent-Sint-Pieters is the main railway station in Ghent, Belgium, and the fourth-busiest in Belgium and busiest in Flanders, with 17.65 million passengers a year.[1].

History

Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station with the glass canopy.

The origins of the railway station is a small station on the line Ghent-Ostend in 1881. At that time the main railway station of Ghent was the South railway station built in 1837. At the occasion of the 1913 world exhibition in Ghent, a new Sint-Pieters railway station was built. It was designed by architect Louis Cloquet and finished in 1912 just before the World Exhibition.

The station is built in an eclectic style with a long corridor dividing the building in its length which provides access to diverse facilities. A tunnel (designed by ir. P. Grondy) starting from the entrance hall provides access to the 12 platforms. This gives the station its cross-form design. The original waiting rooms for second and third class now serve as a buffet and restaurant.

The station was classified in 1995. In 1996 the station was renovated, with the renovation of the interior of the western wing completed in 1998.

The station was served by a daily Thalys high speed service to Paris between 1998 and 31 March 2015.[2]

Project Gent-Sint-Pieters

In 2004 the Project Gent-Sint-Pieters was announced as part of a bigger plan to renovate line 50A between Ghent and Bruges. The reconstructions were planned between 2007 and 2022 and included:

12 new, wider and longer platforms with more escalators and a lift for better access
one big open hall below the platforms instead of the 3 current tunnels
a tram stop with direct access to the platforms
a new bus station in front of the railway station
The Virginie Lovelinggebouw, East-Flanders' Flemish Administrative Center
Renovation of the Maria Hendikaplein, the square in front of the station
Renovation of the main entrance building
A new bicycle parking
Valentin Vaerweyckweg (T4), a new trunk road connecting the station to the ringroad of Ghent (R4) and A10/E40

The work is necessary to make the station more accessible and to increase capacity as the number of passengers grows every year. This eventually will lead to the removal of several period features that are not part of the classified main building, like the platform canopies, waiting rooms, and the tunnel by P. Grondy.

Timeline

In 2007, the tower at the entrance of the station has been renovated. In 2008 a new glass canopy was placed at the main entrance.

In 2010, the murals of the main entrance hall have been renovated. The Valentin Vaerweyckweg (T4) and the temporary tramtunnel were opened. And the first part of the new bus station was put into use. Fase 1 of the station itself (Platforms 8-12) started.

In 2012 the first part of a new underground bicycle parking station was opened, with 1.700 of the intended total of 10.000 parking spots.[3]

In 2014, the Virginie Lovelinggebouw was finished. In 2015, the first new platforms (11 and 12) were put into service.

In 2017, platforms 10, 9 and 8 were put into use tough 8 wasn't finished yet. The project was running late and appeared to be more expensive then anticipated. It was put on hold and new options were investigated to cut costs.

In January 2020 the new project was announced. The main change was the roof over the platforms. Phase 2 (platforms 7-1) is planned from 2021 until 2026. Because of the restriction of Ghent's car traffic circulation in 2017, the amount of commuters using a bicycle grew. The plans were adjusted accordingly to build 17,000 bicycle parking spots in total.[4]

Train services

The station is served by the following services:

Intercity services (IC-01) Ostend - Bruges - Ghent - Brussels - Leuven - Liege - Eupen
Intercity services (IC-02) Ostend - Bruges - Ghent - Sint-Niklaas - Antwerpen
Intercity services (IC-03) Knokke/Blankenberge - Bruges - Ghent - Brussels - Leuven - Genk
Intercity services (IC-04) Lille/Poperinge - Kortrijk - Ghent - Sint-Niklaas - Antwerpen
Intercity services (IC-12) Kortrijk - Ghent - Brussels - Leuven - Liege - Welkenraedt (weekdays)
Intercity services (IC-12) Kortrijk - Ghent (weekends)
Intercity services (IC-20) Ghent - Aalst - Brussels - Hasselt - Tongeren (weekdays)
Intercity services (IC-20) Ghent - Aalst - Brussels - Dendermonde - Lokeren (weekends)
Intercity services (IC-23A) Bruges - Ghent - Brussels - Brussels Airport
Intercity services (IC-28) Ghent - Sint-Niklaas - Antwerp (weekdays)
Local services (L-02) Zeebrugge - Bruges - Ghent - Dendermonde - Mechelen (weekdays)
Local services (L-02) Zeebrugge - Bruges - Ghent (weekends)
Local services (L-05) Eeklo - Ghent - Oudenaarde - Ronse
Local services (L-05) Eeklo - Ghent - Oudenaarde - Kortrijk (weekdays)
Local services (L-25) Ghent - Zottegem - Geraardsbergen
Local services (L-28) Ghent - Dendermonde - Mechelen (weekends)

Preceding station	National Railway Company of Belgium	Following station
Brugge toward Oostende	IC 01	Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid toward Eupen
Brugge toward Oostende	IC 02	Gent-Dampoort toward Antwerpen-Centraal
Aalter toward Blankenberge and Knokke	IC 03	Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid toward Genk
Waregem toward Lille and Poperinge	IC 04	Gent-Dampoort toward Antwerpen-Centraal
De Pinte From Monday to Friday, except holidays toward Kortrijk	IC 12	Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid From Monday to Friday, except holidays toward Welkenraedt
De Pinte On weekends and holidays toward Kortrijk	IC 12	Terminus
Terminus	IC 20	Merelbeke From Monday to Friday, except holidays toward Tongeren
Terminus	IC 20	Merelbeke On weekends and holidays toward Lokeren
Aalter toward Brugge	IC 23A	Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid toward Brussels National Airport
Terminus	IC 28	Gent-Dampoort toward Antwerpen-Centraal
Drongen From Monday to Friday, except holidays toward Zeebrugge-Dorp	L 02	Merelbeke From Monday to Friday, except holidays toward Mechelen
Drongen On weekends and holidays toward Zeebrugge-Dorp	L 02	Terminus
Gentbrugge From Monday to Friday, except holidays toward Eeklo	L 05	De Pinte From Monday to Friday, except holidays toward Ronse and Kortrijk
	L 05	De Pinte On weekends and holidays toward Ronse
Terminus	L 25	Merelbeke toward Geraardsbergen
Terminus	L 28 weekends	Kwatrecht toward Mechelen

References

SNCB Mobility. "Reizigerstellingen 2009" (in Dutch). - Détail du calcul : (261xNbre voyageur jours de semaine) + (52xNbre Samedi) + (52xNbre Dimanche)
Article about final Thalys to Ostend
In Dutch: Project Gent Sint-Pieters, nieuwsbericht 9 november 2016:2000 bijkomende fietsenstallingen
In Dutch: Project Gent Sint-Pieters: Voorstelling project, Stationsproject: Fiets, accessed at 28-1-2020

External links

YouTube video of Ghent Sint Pieter's station

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] SNCB Mobility. "Reizigerstellingen 2009" (in Dutch). - Détail du calcul : (261xNbre voyageur jours de semaine) + (52xNbre Samedi) + (52xNbre Dimanche)

[2] Article about final Thalys to Ostend

[3] In Dutch: Project Gent Sint-Pieters, nieuwsbericht 9 november 2016:2000 bijkomende fietsenstallingen

[4] In Dutch: Project Gent Sint-Pieters: Voorstelling project, Stationsproject: Fiets, accessed at 28-1-2020