On Tuesday, January 3rd, the Brussels museum ‘Train World’ in Schaarbeek (Brussels) welcomed its one-millionth visitor. Train World is the museum of NMBS/SNCB, the National Company of the Belgian Railways. It is Belgium’s first real railway museum, and it opened its doors to the general public in September 2015.

Visitors can get a unique view of the history of railways in Belgium thanks to the combination of prestigious objects from the NMBS/SNCB collection, special documents, and exceptional, interactive scenography. The museum shows the most valuable locomotives and carriages of Belgian railway heritage and contains numerous railway objects, unique archive documents, photos, and videos.

‘Relevant and attractive’

In 2015, the museum touted 65 424 visitors, but since 2016, the number of visitors has always exceeded 130 000 per year. In 2021, a record number of visitors was registered: 151 440. Numerous temporary exhibitions and other events contributed to this success.

“As Belgium’s number one railway museum, it is our goal to remain relevant and attractive for the general public, on the scale of other major museums in our country and other railway museums worldwide,” said Pieter Jonckers, director of Train World. “This millionth visitor proves that we successfully meet this challenge.”

Orient Express

In 2022, Train World organized two special exhibitions. The most spectacular one was dedicated to the mythical Orient Express, the legendary long-distance passenger train, a symbol of luxury travel and adventure. The Orient Express train service was created in 1883 by the Belgian ‘Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits’ and operated until 2009.

The other temporary exhibition last year, ‘Royals and Trains’, offered visitors a unique opportunity to discover the magnificence of the royal trains and the unique bond between the Belgian royal family and the railway world. Train World has already received Trip Advisor’s Certificate of Excellence and Traveler’s Choice Award for several years in a row.

Art Nouveau

This year, Train World plans to present two temporary exhibitions. ‘Animalia’ will open on February 17th and focus on biodiversity and the railways’ role in this context. ‘Horta and Van de Velde’ will open in December and fits in the context of the year of ‘Art Nouveau’ in Brussels. This exhibition is a tribute to the Belgian architects and designers Victor Horta and Henri Van de Velde.