Koby

At 10.15, towards the airport, traffic should be OK. About 20 minutes maybe... And yes, the taxi will drop you off right at check-in.

On the other hand, arriving by train at the airport is not that bad either: escalators one level up, and then the elevator up the departures area. I don't see any long walks there. (It used to be different...)

vonlance

Can you give me a run down?

is it like 4mins to taxi rank from train platform?

25mins with no/low traffic?

How long will it take me to clear eurostar barriers/checks and into Midi itself?

thanks a lot Koby

Koby

There are no checks in Brussel, everything is done in London. Just walk down the platform and take the elevator down. The taxi stand is on the same side of the station. Count 5 minutes from train to taxi stand. (See also post #21 above.)

Maybe someone else here can tell you if there are long lines for taxis at that time?

Ghentleman

Why do you need to be there 45 minutes before flight-time? Can't you check-in online?
If you can:
Arrive in Brussels-South (Midi-Zuid) 10:07
Buy a ticket to the airport BRU
Get on the 10:30 train (the 10:15 will be hard to catch)
Arrive in BRU 10:51
Should get you to the A-gates on-time.
Keep the taxi plan as a backup in case the incoming or outbound train is late.

vonlance

Thank you!

This simplifies things a lot and i can sort of relax.

Thanks!!

Thinksamuel

Belgium answering:

- Brussel Zuid/Midi is not the nicest station at night. Just stay in the main hall where everybody gathers and not in the parallel smaller halls. There is a place station in the station so if something happens they can be there right away. On a sidenote: next to the station (a 100 meter walk to Stalingrad boulevard, you get in the Moroccan neighbourhood. You can get good mint tea and coffee there.
- Buying tickets: you can get them online but they installed ticketing machines now. They are orange and accept coins and cards

- Train or taxi: definitely train: I once had to take a taxi from the airport to BXL centre and the fare was € 60. Never again! A train is only € 5,20 and gets you straight to the airport. And the train cannot get stuck in traffic.

vonlance

Thanks ThinkSamuel, i will be going via the train

FelipeVBS

€ 5,20 plus diabolo fee? will be in Bruxelles on late november and cant find the BRU to Midi fare value :/

Regards

Ghentleman

Standard one-way adult fare is €8,50.
Don't know where Thinksamuel got the €5.20 from. Maybe back in the days.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Either way, the reliability is worth it vs a cab. The only "drama" is figuring out which track your train is using. Thankfully, the info on bahn.de has always been accurate for this, allowing tight connections to be made. The first time, it took me awhile to figure out the monitors and find the right train (because they show final destinations, not the airport, and there are a lot of tracks at this station!).

BahrainLad

For future reference there is a staircase on the E* platforms signposted "Correspondance - Connections" which will take you down to the Transfer area for easy access to other Midi platforms.