Brussels-South railway station in the context of "Porte de Hal metro station"

Thalys (French: [talis]) was a brand name used for high-speed train services between Paris Gare du Nord and both Amsterdam Centraal and German cities in the Rhein-Ruhr, including Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen and Dortmund, both via Brussels-South.

Thalys was created out of a political ambition formalised in October 1987 to establish a network of international high-speed railway services between the cities of Paris, Brussels, Cologne and Amsterdam. The Thalys name was created in January 1995. The company procured a fleet of Alstom-built TGV trains to operate its services as they were viewed as the only existing rolling stock suitable to the task.

Brussels-Central railway station (French: Gare de Bruxelles-Central; Dutch: Station Brussel-Centraal) is a railway and metro station in central Brussels, Belgium. It is the second busiest railway station in Belgium and one of three principal railway stations in Brussels, together with Brussels-South and Brussels-North. First completed in 1952 after protracted delays caused by economic difficulties and World War II, it is the newest of Brussels' main rail hubs. The train services are operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB/NMBS).

Brussels-Central is connected to the rapid transit Gare Centrale/Centraal Station station on lines 1 and 5 of the Brussels Metro system, and serves as an important node of the Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company (STIB/MIVB).

Saint-Gilles (French, pronounced [sɛ̃ ʒil] ) or Sint-Gillis (Dutch, pronounced [sɪntˈxɪlɪs] ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Anderlecht, Forest and Ixelles. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch), but predominantly French-speaking nowadays.

Saint-Gilles has a multicultural identity stemming from its diverse population. The housing stock varies from semi-derelict tenements near Brussels-South railway station in the north, to elegant bourgeois houses on the southern borders with Uccle and Ixelles, to tourist hotels at the inner end of the Chaussée de Charleroi/Charleroisesteenweg.

Brussels-North railway station (French: Gare de Bruxelles-Nord; Dutch: Station Brussel-Noord) is one of the three major railway stations in Brussels, Belgium; the other two are Brussels-Central and Brussels-South. Every regular domestic and international train (except Eurostar) passing there has a planned stop. The station has 200,000 passengers per week, mainly commuters, making it one of the busiest in Belgium. It is operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB/NMBS).

Brussels-North is the end point of the premetro (underground tram) North–South Axis (on lines 4 and 10), and an important node of the Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company (STIB/MIVB), as well as of bus lines of the Flemish transport company De Lijn. More than 30 regional bus lines depart from there, as do international Eurolines coach services.

The North–South Axis is a tram tunnel in Brussels, Belgium, which crosses the city centre from north to south between Brussels-North railway station and Albert premetro station.

The first section of this tunnel was opened on 4 October 1976 between Brussels-North and Lemonnier premetro station. It was then expanded to Albert in 1993. It is currently used by tram routes 4, 10, 51 and 82. Only routes 4 and 10 use the full tunnel. Route 51 uses it between Lemonnier and Albert and route 82 between Lemonnier and Brussels-South railway station.

The tram route 51 in Brussels, Belgium, is operated by STIB/MIVB, and connects Heysel/Heizel metro station in Laeken in the City of Brussels to the Van Haelen stop in the southern municipality of Uccle. The route runs north–south, crossing the City of Brussels, Jette, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, the City of Brussels again, Saint-Gilles, Forest and Uccle. Currently, service is interrupted between Brussels-South railway station and Altitude Cent/Hoogte Honderd due to construction work at Albert premetro station.