Horta premetro station



Horta premetro station is a premetro (underground tram) station located in the Saint-Gilles municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. It was opened on 3 December 1993.

Location


The station forms part of a southerly extension to the north–south premetro line (formerly line 3), which originally linked the Brussels-North railway station and Brussels-South railway station. Located on the Chaussée de Waterloo/Waterloosesteenweg, the underground station serves the 3, 4 and 51 trams while the 81 and 97 trams and 52 bus stop 100 metres to the north-west around the Barrière de Saint-Gilles/Bareel van Sint-Gillis. In 2025 the line is scheduled to be converted to serve line 3 of the heavy metro alone, in preparation for which third rails were installed in 2021.

An underground car park occupies the space between the platforms and the small park above. This was previously the site of a nursery school, the Ecole gardienne no. 1, the commune's first and biggest. Opened in 1864, it catered for 533 children in 10 classes, and had two playgrounds and a canteen.

The station is unusual in that it can only be reached from the eastern end, at the entrance on the Chaussée de Waterloo, whereas no entrance was built leading to Place van Meenen/Van Meenenplein, which would have eased access to the Municipal Hall.

In 2023 a block of flats with cycle parking is being built over the entrance to the east of the Chaussée de Waterloo/Waterloosesteenweg, on a corner plot that had been empty since the tunnel was dug.

Decoration
The station is named for Art Nouveau architect Victor Horta, who designed a number of significant buildings in the area. Decorative ironwork and stained glass designed by Horta for the Maison du Peuple/Volkshuis and the Hôtel Aubecq, which were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s respectively, is on display in the station.

The interior tilework is grey. The station is a favourite hangout for adolescents, and STIB/MIVB security officers, community wardens and police are often in attendance. On 22 January 2012, following the eviction of squatters from one of the techncal rooms, the station suffered a graffiti attack of such scale (paint had been splashed carelessly all the way along the walls) that it was closed for 24 hours while it was cleaned.