2012-09-14 – The foundation stone of the future train museum Train World was laid at Schaerbeek Station on Friday. The new 8,000 m2 building will stand next to the station’s historic concourse dating from 1913, which will host part of the permanent exhibition and temporary exhibitions.
Train World will open its doors in 2014. It will pay tribute to the rich history of the train in Belgium: the first railway line in continental Europe was opened in 1835 between Mechelen and Brussels, the world’s first capital city to be served by train. The museum is also a unique marketing tool for the Belgian railways.
Schaerbeek-based designer François Schuiten has devised the displays for the future museum together with the company Expoduo. ‘We will try to bring the machinery alive at Train World (…) and to make this place as magical as possible,’ he has commented.
The SNCB/NBMS Group has invested 20.5 million euros in the project, and hopes to attract 100,000 visitors per year from its third year of operations onwards.
