A journey into Brussels' ghost stations
Below is an invitation to journey through the ghost stations of the Brussels Metro.
The Brussels Metro is significantly newer than the Paris Metro. Nevertheless—"Belgitude" oblige—the network has its share of abandoned stations. However, let us be clear from the start: there is nothing extravagant about these ghost stations. They are generally extensions of existing stations that were simply never put into service. It is more accurate to call them unused or unfinished stations. I invite you on a tour of these empty spaces, as well as a visit to the dispatching center.
We have listed:
Gare du Midi: An entire metro station that remains unfinished.
Louise: A complete station that is totally unfinished.
Botanique: An existing station that contains large unfinished sections.
Simonis Track: An entire track that was never put into service.
Saint-Guidon: A station that, while not extravagant, lies abandoned.
The Brussels Metro does not have "completed" ghost stations; rather, it possesses unfinished infrastructure and abandoned projects that bear witness to the network's various development phases. You can sometimes spot them or pass through them without even realizing it.
One of the best-known examples is Saint-Guidon. Beneath the current station lies a perpendicular "rough-shell" station. It was built as part of an initial plan for Line 2 that was never realized. There are also tunnel sections between certain stations, such as between Beekkant and Étangs-Noirs, which feature unused junctions intended for hypothetical extensions to other neighborhoods.
Furthermore, some existing stations were designed to accommodate future lines that never came to fruition. For instance, Anneessens station has an unfinished level intended for a line that would have run beneath the central boulevards. Similarly, Botanique and Parc were designed with an extra level in anticipation of a line under Rue Royale—a project that was ultimately scrapped.
Finally, the infrastructure for Metro 3, currently under construction, has faced—and continues to face—significant difficulties, particularly the worksite in the Midi district, which proved to be a true technical challenge. This axis, meant to connect the north and south of the city, has undergone several plan modifications, leaving behind unfinished sections or vestiges of previous projects, especially around Gare du Nord and Gare du Midi. These examples illustrate the complex history of the Brussels Metro, where projects did not always end as planned, leaving concrete traces in the city's subsoil.
These spaces are in a state of total abandonment and are clearly the property of the STIB. These photos are very rare given the access difficulties: they remain hidden.
