✔ Despite a €22 million investment for upgrades, problems of cleanliness and a spike in armed robberies, many involving weapons, persist around Gare du Midi
✔ SNCB's CEO calls for immediate action from the government
✔ No dedicated police station exists within or near the busy station, further exacerbating the problem
There are few major cities in Europe where the area surrounding the stations is inviting, but the zone around Brussels' infamous Gare du Midi is arguably among the worst.
Brussels-Midi station, located in Anderlecht, is for many the first sight they see when arriving in the Belgian capital as it is where passengers disembark the Eurostar, Thalys and Charleroi Airport shuttle bus.
As the area plays a key role in the city's international image, the regional government announced that it would start working to upgrade the space around the Gare du Midi earlier this year, investing €22 million in the project. However, almost six months on, problems of cleanliness and security persist.
Many tourists remain deeply critical of the area's filthiness and a general feeling of lawlessness. Recently published police figures show that 146 armed robberies were committed at or near Gare du Midi over the past year, with over half involving the use of a knife or pistol.
As the problems around the station are worsening, the CEO of Belgium's national railway operator SNCB, Sophie Dutordoir, has called on federal, regional and municipal authorities to improve both security and cleanliness around Brussels-Midi station.
Specific protection
SNCB notes that the situation in and around the station is "drastic" in terms of nuisance and incivilities, with more than 50,000 people take the train there every day, making it the busiest station in Belgium. It added that it is also the international hub for rail traffic in the country and the main gateway for international travellers visiting Belgium.
It is also SNCB's main place of work: 4,000 of its employees work in the immediate vicinity of the station. Dutordoir noted that the company itself is already taking a lot of measures, including through its integrated action plan by SNCB, which saw extra teams from Securail being deployed. More clean-ups are also being organised at the station.
Tweet translation: "'Welcome to Brussels': a Sunday morning near the Gare du Midi. It's a great way to give a good impression to tourists visiting our city. Distressing: no provisions on the ground."
Yet, Dutordoir points out that more work is needed. She therefore wrote a letter to the Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region, Rudi Vervoort, the Federal Minister for Mobility, Georges Gilkinet, the Home Affairs Minister, Annelies Verlinden, as well as the mayors of Saint-Gilles and Anderlecht, Jean Spinette and Fabrice Cumps, making two requests to improve the situation.
Firstly, she "emphatically" called for a very short-term initiative, bringing together the stakeholders to ensure immediate improvement on the ground. "A single body should be appointed to ensure coordination between the various partners involved and integration with SNCB's action plan," the company said in a statement.
Next, the company would like to start discussions about the installation of a police station that would be planned in the vicinity of Bruxelles-Midi and, in particular, to examine whether it could be housed in the station itself.
