Royal railway station, Private railway station in Laeken, Belgium.
The Royal railway station is a neoclassical station at the edge of the Royal Domain in Brussels, featuring white stone facades and symmetrical architectural details. The building was designed as a private facility with elegant proportions to serve the specific needs of the royal household.
King Leopold II commissioned this station in 1877 to receive important guests and foreign dignitaries arriving by rail. Following his death in 1909, the project lost momentum and planned expansions were never completed.
The station was reserved exclusively for royal family members for over a century, embodying the link between monarchy and modern rail transport. Visitors walking past can sense how this private railway once represented a distinct connection between the royal domain and Brussels.
The station exterior can be viewed from Rue Albert or from trains passing between Brussels-North and Bockstael stations. The building is closed to the public today, but its neoclassical architecture remains clearly visible from outside.
An unfinished tunnel beside the station leads to an incomplete underground platform beneath the Royal Castle. This secret project was abandoned after Leopold's death in 1909 and remains hidden from public view.
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