Station Antwerpen-Dokken en -Stapelplaatsen
THE ABANDONED STATION IN BELGIUM
Station ‘Antwerpen-Dokken en -Stapelplaatsen’ was called ‘Antwerpen Station’ between 1843 and 1854. It was the main train station of Antwerp at that time. Later, after 1954 the name of this station changed to ‘Antwerpen-Dokken en -Stapelplaatsen’ or in French ‘Anvers-Bassins-et-Entrepots’. The station and sheds kept that name until they were demolished in 2007.
At that time, ‘Antwerpen Station’ was the starting point of the ‘Rijnspoor’ to Cologne. Meanwhile, the current site of the Antwerp Central Station, dating to 1905, was called ‘Antwerpen Ooststation’ or ‘Anvers-Gare de l’Est’.
Eventually, in 1873 this new station building was inaugurated at the ‘Dokken en -Stapelplaatsen’ site. Forthwith, the new station became a freight station. The last rail use of the building was by B-Cargo, the national railway operator charged with freight transport. It’s a regional operator that focuses on Belgium and its immediate surrounding area, such as the ports of Dunkerque, Vlissingen, and Rotterdam.
Spoor Noord
In 2000, the freight station was closed along with the freight division of the Antwerp-Dam station in 2001. As a result, the tracks between the two stations were removed. Although B-Cargo left the building in 2000, the building was not completely abandoned until the end of 2006. Meanwhile, other transport companies used the building to load trucks. The site is now a part of the park ‘Spoor Noord’. In January 2007, the shed with the characteristic iconic wall along Ellermanstraat was demolished to build a new university campus, which opened in 2013. I visited ‘Station Antwerpen-Dokken en -Stapelplaatsen’ in 2006. For more abandoned stations, check this link.
