@ YVR Cockroach

Here's the explination in Dutch: http://www.goeievraag.be/vraag/trein...russels.144840

But I guess that doesn't help too much. :) As you indicated 'midi' means noon. At noon, the sun is at its highest point and... in the south. That would be the reason
why the French call it Midi.

The French also call Southern France "Midi de la France" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_France

I travelled in/out of Zuid every week for abouut 6 months. I always connected via public transport, have eaten at most of the cafes, and never had any serious problems. It is evident that there are theives in the area, but just be careful, and you'll be fine.

They have done some pretty serious renovations to the station over the past year or two, and it is only improving.

Will be using this station for my upcoming trip in Mar15. Has the situation improved, or still as bad from personal safety angle?

How do I purchased my tickets to Antwerp and Luxembourg at this station? Is it over-the-counter where there is a staff manning it; or are the tickets dispensed through a machine?

Do they accept credit cards for ticket purchases?

Any risks on me (from potential criminals) while purchasing my train tickets?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

You should take care at any train station in Europe. But you shouldn't have to worry about physical attack here. Just theft like pickpockets or stealing luggage.

You can purchase over the counter with cash or foreign credit cards, but there are machines too. Some machines only take Belgian cards and some take a few types of foreign chipped cards like Maestro. There are two ticket offices, one for domestic and one for international.