TRAIN WORLD | ‘Royals & Trains’ exhibition from 10 May 2022 until 22 January 2023

After the Orient Express exhibition, Belgium‘s prime railway museum Train World at Schaerbeek Railway Station in Brussels is preparing a new exhibition: ‘Royals & Trains‘.

“A unique opportunity to discover the royal trains”, the website introduces the exhibition.

“From the construction of the first rail line in 1835 to the present day, the Belgian royal family has always had a special relationship with trains and shown unwavering support for expanding the railway network in Belgium and in Europe. This temporary exhibition lets you discover the rich railway heritage of the Belgian royal family through documents and period objects from our archives and those of the Royal Palace. Exceptionally, five royal coaches, most never shown in public, will be unveiled for the first time at Train World.”

The exhibition opens on 10 May 2022 and runs until 22 January 2022. Until then, the museum is closed.

Royal trains in Belgium

Some of the historic royal coaches are still preserved, two of which are on display at Train World, according to Wikipedia.

From the royal coaches that served for King Leopold II and King Albert I are preserved the three most important royal coaches.

From the royal coaches that served for King Leopold III and King Baudouin are preserved:

the drawing room coach, with private rest compartment for the king;
the dining coach, with big and private dining compartment and kitchen;
and the sleeping coach for the king and queen, with small drawing room, sleeping compartments, bathing compartments with bathtub and compartments for the staff.

Modern use

For rail transport during visits of heads of state to Belgium, there is a possibility of using a first-class NMBS / SNCB I11 coach with seats partially removed and a set of armchairs put in the middle of the coach. This arrangement was used for the first time on 30 May 2002 during the state visit of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, for a trip from Bruges to Brussels-Midi, and a second time during the state visit of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on 22 June 2006 for a trip from Schaerbeek to Liège-Guillemins.

In October 2019 the Royal Family used a train consisting of various first class coaches: an I6m for King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, I11 and I10 for the entourage. to visit the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. They departed from the Brussels-Luxembourg Railway Station, to not hinder the busy train network around Brussels.

Vertrek vanaf Brussel-Luxemburg station voor de start van het driedaagse staatsbezoek aan het Groothertogdom Luxemburg, met meer dan 200 deelnemers, ontmoetingen op hoog niveau en uiteenlopende ontmoetingen op de agenda. #BELUX2019 @nmbs @CourGrandDucale #BelgianRoyalPalace pic.twitter.com/Ey1TSaqZaN
— Belgian Royal Palace (@MonarchieBe) October 15, 2019

Départ de la gare Bruxelles-Luxembourg pour le début de la visite d'Etat de trois jours au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, avec plus de 200 participants, de nombreuses rencontres de haut niveau et diverses réunions au programme. #BELUX2019 @sncb @CourGrandDucale #MonarchieBe pic.twitter.com/HibU1YyLKp
— Belgian Royal Palace (@MonarchieBe) October 15, 2019

🇱🇺🇧🇪 En zo ziet de “koninklijke” trein van koning Filip en koningin Mathilde eruit: vijf wagons, allemaal eersteklasserijtuigen die de NMBS in de normale dienstverlening gebruikt. Op de ramen zijn stickers met het Belgische wapenschild gekleefd. Er reizen zo’n 100 passagiers mee. pic.twitter.com/J8tRsJ1214
— [Wim Dehandschutter] (@WDehandschutter) October 15, 2019