On 14 September work was officially launched on the creation of Train World, Belgium’s forthcoming railway museum in Schaerbeek on the outskirts of Brussels. The project was presented and a commemorative pillar inaugurated in the company of State Secretary for the Environment, Energy and Mobility Melchior Wathelet, SNCB-Holding CEO Jannie Haek, CEO SNCB Marc Descheemaecker, and a number of guests invited by the railway company. SNCB and Eurostation have entrusted the visual layout of the museum to internationally-reputed Belgian comic-book artist François Schuiten.

Train World will showcase the past, present and future of the railways and is set to open in 2014. Despite its abundant history and collections of railway artefacts, Belgium does not yet have its own railway museum – yet the first railway line in continental Europe opened in May 1835 between Brussels and Mechelen.

Train World will vividly tell the general public the story of the Belgian railways’ heritage and the significant role of the train in Belgium’s social and economic development – as well as in the area of mobility today. The public will learn about over 175 years of railway history in Belgium and Europe, from the country’s oldest locomotive to the latest state-of-the-art train.