Before automated lines, express trains, and modern tunnels, Brussels already had an underground station. And it’s still there. Its name: Lemonnier Station, a pioneer of the STIB network and a testament to the capital’s urban history.
Lemonnier, the underground birthplace of the STIB
The oldest station on the Brussels metro system is neither Schuman nor De Brouckère, but Lemonnier. Opened in 1957, this underground station was built well before the opening of the metro. At the time, Brussels was preparing to host Expo ’58, and the city wanted to ease traffic congestion at the already overcrowded intersection between downtown and the Midi Station. A tram tunnel was therefore built to connect the north and south. This visionary “pre-metro” system, installed beneath the boulevard, established Lemonnier as a strategic hub for urban mobility. It was both a technical and symbolic milestone: the first underground station ever built in the capital.
The pre-metro: a forward-thinking idea
In the 1950s, the metro was still just a distant project. But Brussels took the lead with this hybrid system known as the “pre-metro”—a network of trams running underground, much like a light rail system. Lemonnier was part of this pioneering model, with platforms designed for trams and a structure built to handle growing traffic. Other stations will follow, notably Parc, Anneessens, and Rogier. This network is becoming the backbone of the future north-south line.
From the pre-metro to the metro: the birth of a network
It wasn’t until 1976 that the STIB inaugurated its first true metro line, connecting De Brouckère to Tomberg. The gradual transformation of the pre-metro into a full-fledged metro continued over the following decades, with the expansion of lines and the modernization of infrastructure. Today, the STIB operates a dense network. Four metro lines, about twenty tram lines, and dozens of bus routes. Together, they crisscross the city over more than 600 km. But at the heart of this underground history, Lemonnier remains the starting point, the founding station —a quiet witness to an era when Brussels was already inventing its future.
