Charleroi-West railway station


Charleroi-West is a secondary railway station serving Charleroi, Belgium. It is one of two railway stations located in downtown Charleroi, the other one being the much larger Charleroi-South railway station. Charleroi-West is also a station of the Charleroi metro.

Rail station

Charleroi-West is a small, unstaffed station with no building or other services of its own, served only by Belgian railway line 140 linking Charleroi to Ottignies. Charleroi-West used to be a dead-end station until 27 May 1987, when a rail connection to Charleroi-South was opened. The 6 km industrial line 260 links Charleroi-Ouest with the freight classification yard of Monceau-sur-Sambre.
Because of its proximity to Charleroi-South and the limited train service, Charleroi-West sees very little passenger traffic, with a weekday average of 75 boarding passengers on weekdays in 2007.
The original station, inaugurated in 1855, was located slightly to the South. The current station was built between 1884 and 1886.

Train services

The station is served by the following service:
West is a Charleroi Metro station, located at the western end of Charleroi downtown, in fare zone 1. The station is accessible through three distinct street entrances leading to a mezzanine, giving access to the central platform via escalators.
The station has been renovated in 2009, with a new decoration based on works of local artist Charles Szymkowicz. The mezzanine level hosts 11 reproductions of Szymkowicz's watercolor paintings depicting Tuscany landscapes, made by Belgian ceramist Maurice Joly. One of the station entrances is adorned with a 3.5 x 4m fresco depicting Szymkowicz and his mother passing the so-called "viaduct" bridge where the station is now located.

Nearby points of interest

bus lines 41, 42, 43, 50, 51, 52, 60, 61, 63, 67, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 83, 85, 86, 170, 365a, Midi-Docherie