Antwerp-Central station was closed and the building evacuated following the discovery of a suspicious package, local police said on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday morning. The package was later reported as a false alarm.
The evacuation caused major disruption to train traffic, noted infrastructure manager Infrabel, and police asked the public to avoid the premises on Friday morning. Belgian national railway company, SNCB, also announced that traffic was disrupted and that major delays and cancellations were expected.
No more trains are allowed to enter the station, and the nearby Antwerp-Berchem station is now being used as a terminus. Diamant premetro station below Antwerp-Central station has also now been evacuated.
We nemen geen enkel risico na het aantreffen van een #verdachtpakket rond 7 uur vanmorgen in Antwerpen-Centraal. Het trein- en metroverkeer zijn stilgelegd. Er is een veiligheidsperimeter ingesteld in de omgeving van het stationsgebouw. Het bovengronds tramverkeer rijdt nog wel. pic.twitter.com/HrPczOrkFG
— Politie Antwerpen (@PZAntwerpen) October 13, 2023
Tweet translation: "We are not taking any risks after finding a #suspect package around 07:00 this morning in Antwerp Central. Train and metro traffic have been halted. A security perimeter has been set up in the vicinity of the station building. Overground tram traffic is still running."
Antwerp-Central station is one of the busiest in Belgium. Its closure at the height of the morning rush hour is therefore having a major impact.
"We are now using Antwerp-Berchem as a terminus for most trains, but its capacity is not as great," explained Thomas Baeken of Infrabel. "The first train jams are starting to form in neighbouring stations such as Antwerp-South, Mortsel and Zwijndrecht."
SNCB train tickets can be used by commuters to take De Lijn buses and trams to Antwerp-Berchem station, where they can board a train, SNCB announced. Trains whose final destination is not Antwerp-Central are being diverted via an old route bypassing the city, which is also causing numerous delays. In addition to the diversions and delays to several trains already underway, Infrabel warns that many trains are likely to be cancelled.
The suspicious package was reported as a false alarm by local police at around 11:00 on Friday morning. The package consisted of two abandoned suitcases. Army bomb disposal experts are currently analysing the suitcases in question.
This article was updated at 11:42 on Friday.
