Oostkamp railway station

Oostkamp Station is a railway station along railway line 50A (Brussels - Ostend) in the municipality of Oostkamp. There are no ticket offices available.

Oostkamp has had a stopping point since 1849. The present, neo-classical station was built in 1889. It was designed by architect Henri Fouquet, who also designed the stations in Leuven, Harelbeke and Oudenaarde.

Originally there were two entrances on the street side, the left one being for the 1st and 2nd class that led to the "vestibule", the "bureau des recettes" and the baggage room. The right hand door gave access to the larger "Salle d'attente de voyageurs 3ième classe". The platform side has all doors.

The waiting or shelter room is a brick construction with a front characterised by a brick plinth and open central portal between cast-iron fluted columns of the Ionic order. There are two waiting rooms on either side of the portal and large windows with elaborate wrought-iron tracery. The cottage has a flat roof. 

The station building and waiting house have been protected since January 1997. The protection of the station building as a monument was temporarily lifted in order to be able to move the station building in its entirety.

In 1865 a small station building was erected, which became too cramped after only a few years due to rapidly growing passenger traffic. Consequently, it was enlarged in 1877[2], but in 1889[3] a completely new neo-classical low-rise building was erected - as it is known today - to a design by Henri Fouquet. Striking features of Fouquet's construction are the metal decorative elements and the three entrances to the waiting rooms for the different classes. In the interior, this difference in positions is still visible.

In 1997, the station, together with the striking canopy and the guardhouse, was protected as a monument. In 2006, after years of dilapidation, it was thoroughly renovated. Initially, the whole structure was to be moved in 2012, when the railway line between Ghent and Bruges was doubled. However, the plans for the doubling of the railway line, and therefore the plans for the relocation, were postponed until the period 2018-2021. The building was demolished in 2018 and carefully rebuilt on the other side of the station where it will serve as a library. The station was made fully accessible and the number of tracks was increased from 2 to 4. There was also a new subway with stairs and ramps. A new cycle park and station car park was also built. The works were part of expanding the number of tracks between Ghent and Bruges to allow for more trains.[4]

Willem Vandenameele