| — | |
| Style: | Brussels Metro |
| Coordinates: | 50.8631°N 4.3306°W |
| Operator: | STIB/MIVB, SNCB/NMBS |
| Owned: | STIB/MIVB, Infrabel |
| Structure: | Underground |
| Platform: | 1 island platform (Simonis metro) 2 side platforms (Elisabeth metro) 2 side platforms (SNCB/NMBS) 2 side platforms (tram 19) 1 side, 1 island platform (tram 9) |
| Levels: | 2 |
| Tracks: | 11 |
| Opened: | (Simonis metro) (tram 19) (Elisabeth metro) (railway) (tram 9) |
Simonis and Elisabeth are two interconnected Brussels Metro stations serving lines 2 and 6 on two different levels, as well as a tram and bus stop. Additionally, Simonis railway station (French: Gare de Simonis; Dutch; Flemish: Station Simonis) is a railway station operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB/NMBS). It is served by the Brussels Regional Express Network (RER/GEN) service.[1]
The station complex is situated at the end of the French: Boulevard Léopold II|italic=no/Dutch; Flemish: Leopold II-laan|italic=no in the municipality of Koekelberg, in the western part of Brussels, Belgium. Simonis received its name from the aboveground square French: Place Eugène Simonis|italic=no/Dutch; Flemish: Eugène Simonisplein|italic=no, itself named after the sculptor Eugène Simonis; while the nearby Elisabeth Park, named after Queen Elisabeth, gives Elisabeth its name.
Simonis metro station opened on 6 October 1982 and is a transit station in north–south direction situated in a cutting next to a railway line. It serves as a transit station on line 6 and a terminus of line 2. Elisabeth metro station is orthogonal to and one level below Simonis and is a terminal station located at the end of the Boulevard Léopold II in east–west direction. It opened on 2 October 1988 and is the terminus for lines 2 and 6.
Between its opening in 1988 and 2013, Elisabeth was also known as Simonis. Until 2009, Simonis was a simple interchange station between former metro lines 1A and 2. When the Brussels Metro "loop" opened in 2009, the north-western part of metro line 1A was connected to the other end of metro line 2, making line 2 an imperfect circle line (since a true circular train service is not possible, as the tracks at Simonis/Elisabeth are not connected). This resulted in the current situation, whereby the station complex is served twice by lines 2 and 6.[2]
To differentiate between the two station parts, the north–south through platforms were given the name Simonis (Leopold II), while the east–west terminating platforms were known as Simonis (Elisabeth). However, this did not improve the clarity of passenger information and thus, on 3 November 2013, Simonis (Leopold II) was reverted to simply Simonis, while Simonis (Elisabeth) became Elisabeth.[3] [4] The adjacent bus, tram and railway stops have not been renamed, and are all still known as Simonis.
Directly to the east of and parallel to Simonis metro station, the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB) operates a local commuter station Simonis since December 2009.[5]
The station is served by the following service(s):
On the metro network, the station is called Simonis and Elisabeth. It is served by metro lines 2 and 6.[6] [7]