Montzen Gare
THE ABANDONED STATION IN BELGIUM
‘Montzen Gare’ is a railway station along railway line 24, Tongeren-Aachen. It is situated in Montzen, a borough of the municipality of Blieberg. Station and railway shunting tracks are built by Russian prisoners in 1915 for the German army.
The building of the station was also the start of the living area Montzen-Station. The houses were mainly inhabited by the people that worked at the railway company. The station is a beautiful building; it even won a price in 1938 for most beautiful station of Belgium. On 29 April 1944, during the Second World War, the station is bombed. As a result none of the beauty remained. After the war the station is rebuilt and is still there today. The site with multiple tracks, office buildings and depots stretches over 80 ha. The site is 3.500 meters long and 240 meters wide.
There is also a connection along railway line 38 towards, the also abandoned Gare de Hombourg. In 1998 the freight station was closed. Montzen Gare is still an active shunting track, but some of the lines are not in use anymore. In the gallery you can see my 2007 visit to the old freight station and its forgotten trains.
