Simonis and Elisabeth stations

Simonis and Elisabeth are two interconnected stations on the Brussels Metro serving line 2 and line 6 on two different levels. Additionally Simonis is a railway station operated by NMBS/SNCB and a tram stop. The station complex is situated at the end of Boulevard Léopold II and is close to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Simonis was named after Place Eugène Simonis/Eugène Simonisplein, which in turn is named after the Belgian sculptor Eugène Simonis; while the nearby Elisabeth Park, named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, gives Elisabeth its name.

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Coordinates	50°51′47″N 4°19′50″E
Owned by	STIB/MIVB, Infrabel
Operated by	STIB/MIVB, SNCB/NMBS
Platforms	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)
Tracks	11
Construction
Platform levels	2
History
Opened	1982 (Simonis metro) 1986 (tram 19) 1988 (Elisabeth metro) 2009 (railway) 2019 (tram 9)
Services
Preceding station   NMBS/SNCB   Following station Thurn en Taxis toward Dendermonde S 10 Brussels-West toward Aalst Preceding station   Brussels Metro   Following station   Simonis   Osseghem/Ossegem toward Elisabeth Line 2 Terminus Line 6 Belgica toward King Baudouin   Elisabeth   Terminus Line 2 Ribaucourt toward Simonis Line 6 Ribaucourt toward King Baudouin

Simonis metro station opened on 6 October 1982 and is a through station in north-south direction situated in a cutting next to a railway line. It is served as a through station on line 6 and is 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 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 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.[1]

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.[2][3] The adjacent bus, tram and railway stops have not been renamed, and are all still known as Simonis.

Simonis railway station

To the west of the stations, trams 9 and 19 call at underground platforms opened on 23 June 1986 (line 19) and 1 September 2018 (line 9), respectively.

To the east of and parallel to Simonis metro station, the National Railway Company of Belgium operates a local commuter station Simonis since December 2009.[4] It is served by the Brussels Regional Express Network service S10 between Dendermonde, Brussels, Denderleeuw and Aalst.