Delta station
_Panneau_DELTA.png){kind=small} | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Delta metro station | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Boulevard des Invalides / Invalidenlaan 1160 Auderghem, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 50°49′06″N 4°24′15″E / 50.81833°N 4.40417°E | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | STIB/MIVB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 20 September 1976 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Delta is a railway and metro station in the municipality of Auderghem, in the south-eastern part of Brussels, Belgium. It is located near the intersection of the Boulevard du Triomphe/Triomflaan and the Boulevard des Invalides/Invalidenlaan, providing access to the adjacent La Plaine/Het Plein campus of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and to the Etterbeek campus of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
The station was inaugurated on 20 September 1976, as part of the first heavy metro segment of the network, located on the branch from Merode to Beaulieu. Then, following the reorganisation of the Brussels Metro on 4 April 2009, it is served by the extended east–west line 5.
Name
[edit]Delta is notable for being the only station in the Brussels Metro network to be named after a feature of itself rather than after a street name, person, neighbourhood, or other adjacent location: The name is derived from the triangular shape of the rail yard as seen from the air, which is reminiscent of the Greek capital letter Delta (Δ).[citation needed]
Metro station
[edit]
Delta is one of the oldest stations in the Brussels Metro system.[1] The architect, Jean F. Petit, designed it in the brutalist style.[2] The station was inaugurated on 20 September 1976, as part of the first heavy metro segment of the network on the branch from Merode to Beaulieu.
Following the reorganisation of the Brussels Metro on 4 April 2009, Delta was incorporated into the extended east–west line 5.[citation needed]
In June 2026, Elke van den Brandt, Minister for Mobility, Public Works, and Road Safety in the Brussels-Capital Region, announced that Delta would receive an extensive refurbishment and renovation to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of its opening.[1]
Artworks
[edit]_and_Christian_Dotremont_(poet),_exposed_in_the_Delta_metro_station_(Auderghem,_Belgium).jpg)
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The mezzanine level features a large-scale work by the artists Pierre Alechinsky and Christian Dotremont titled Sept Écritures. Executed in India ink on paper pressed on wood and synthetic resin, it consists of seven tall panels arranged in horizontal sequence. Each panel is divided into three sections: two images by Alechinsky and a poem by Dotremont written in an invented logographic calligraphy, both relating to themes of shelter and the wheel.[3] The piece was originally installed in Anneessens-Fontainas premetro station in 1976, but was moved to Delta in 2006.[4]
In 1988, the artist Jan van den Abbeel was commissioned to decorate the station's original, bare concrete façade. This piece, titled Delta Mouvement, uses an array of several hundred opaque, diamond-shaped glass panels to form a geometric surface that wraps around the station building. Van den Abbeel used panels of various colours to create an interlocking, alternating weave of diagonal patterns.[5]
Railway station
[edit]
Directly adjacent to the metro station, the railway station consists of two platforms served by the suburban commuter services of the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB)'s line 26, linking Vilvoorde with Halle via Etterbeek. There is a direct link between the metro and railway tracks within the station, enabling transportation of metro rolling stock by way of the Belgian rail network. The railway platforms are directly accessible from the metro station.[6][7]
Train services
[edit]The station is served by the following service(s):
- Brussels RER services (S4) Vilvoorde - Merode - Etterbeek - Brussels-Luxembourg - Denderleeuw - Aalst (weekdays, peak hours only)
- Brussels RER services (S7) Mechelen - Merode - Halle (weekdays)
Delta Depot
[edit]
During the construction of the Brussels Metro in the early 1970s, the Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company (STIB/MIVB) had to consider the additional infrastructure necessary to support the system's operation and future expansion. Alongside Delta metro station itself, work began on an adjoining 21,600 m2 (233,000 sq ft) depot and rail yard, lasting from 1972 to 1975. The new facility also contained garages and repair halls for the city's expanding public bus system.[8]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Chini, Maïthé (1 June 2026). "Brussels starts 'major refurbishment' of Delta Metro Station". The Brussels Times. Archived from the original on 3 June 2026. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
- ↑ "Station de métro Delta & Delta Mouvement". Inventaire du patrimoine architectural Région de Bruxelles-Capitale. 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
- ↑ Harris, Richard (6 February 2023). "The Brussel's Metro underground art museum". The Brussels Times.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Sept Écritures". Inventaire du patrimoine mobilier Région de Bruxelles-Capitale. Archived from the original on 3 June 2026. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
- ↑ "Delta Mouvement". Inventaire du patrimoine mobilier Région de Bruxelles-Capitale. Archived from the original on 3 June 2026. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
- ↑ "Delta station : facilities and access | SNCB-NMBS". www.belgiantrain.be. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
- ↑ "Delta District Plan" (PDF). Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Sablon, Guy (1 August 2024). "La STIB sans limites : 70 ans séparent ces photos". Stibstories (in French). Retrieved 3 June 2026.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Delta train station (Brussels) at Wikimedia Commons- STIB/MIVB official website
