Europe´s “worst” train station; “Everybody says ´this is not my responsibility´”

Europe´s “worst” train station fails to improve, claimed “not my responsibility” by Belgian authorities; Brussels Midi has become a hellhole for locals and travellers.

Europe´s “worst” train station

Belgium´s getaway to Europe has become rampant with crime, as employees, business owners, and travellers flee the area fearing for their lives. Reports revealed that about 3,500 crimes had been committed at Midi each year between 2018 and 2022; most commonly theft, extortion, and drug-related offenses.

“Every city with a train station has crime, but Midi is the worst,” said a Brussels restaurant owner, Karim. This year alone, a concerning number of incidents were recorded around the station. In April, a person was stabbed inside the metro station, and in June, two people died in a shooting at a nearby cafe. Another person was injured in a shooting this August.

“The situation is dramatic,” said City of Brussels Mayor Philippe Close to the Press. “This is the biggest problem in Belgium: Everybody says ´This is not my responsibility.´” An employee at a confectionery store inside Brussels Midi confessed; “It´s the worst place I´ve ever. I have been all over Europe and this is the worst station.”

Europe´s “worst” train station; regular incidents

The confectionery store employee who wished to stay anonymous shared with the Press the incident in June this year, when he heard gunfire and people screaming as he was preparing to shut his store around 1.30am. He ran into the street to find four people shot outside of Cafe Taverne Astoria, located in the street behind his restaurant. Two died and two were seriously injured. “It was shocking but not surprising,” said the employee, adding, “I´m not afraid to die, but I don´t want to die here.”

The confectionery store employee said he had encountered everything from shootings to “many, many” thefts. He reported that one day, six people came into the store and stole items off the shelves in three hours. But the shoplifting happened so often that he sees no point in reporting it to the authorities; “What are they going to do? Laws in Belgium are not really laws.”

Europe´s “worst” train station; will it get better?

Located at the intersection of three municipalities of the metropolitan area of Brussels, Saint-Gilles, Anderlecht, and the City of Brussels, the administration of the area necessitates coordination among the three, which has become a struggle; “This distribution of responsibilities might make addressing the issues challenging,” said criminology professor Vandeviver, adding that “nobody feels responsible.”

According to Vandeviver, an effective measure to lower crime at Belgium´s station would be to reinforce the police presence during the hours when crimes are most likely to happen but even that can´t guarantee an improvement due to the declining reputation of this European station.

Europe´s best train station revealed

According to the annual European Railway Station Index of 2023, Vienna Hauptbahnhof in Austria is the best train station in Europe, judged by the safety, opening hours, availability of facilities, accessibility for people with disabilities, connections to other stations, frequency of train delays, the comfort of waiting areas, ease of taxi access and the quality of the information provided to travellers.