AERA MEMBERS IN BRUSSELS
AERA’s members like to keep up to date first-hand knowledge of international rail developments and services and so for a number of years they have made visits together to the Near Continent by train.
In 2025 the association held its Annual General Meeting for the first time on the European mainland – at Ghent in Belgium – and this year the venue was Brussels at the end of January.
Members took the 09.01 Eurostar service from London St Pancras on January 28th, returning the following day on the 15.42 from Brussels Midi – both trains well filled but not overcrowded.
They sampled the Brussels metro (which in its current form dates from the 1970s) for the northern part of the city for their large modern hotel.
Most then took an afternoon walk in the historic heart of Brussels, exploring the pedestrianised streets, the Stock Exchange converted to a Beer Museum, the magnificent late mediaeval Grand Place and, down a side street the famous (or notorious) statue of Mannekin Pis.
There was time then for some gift shopping before the group made their way to the Restaurant Bouillon Bruxelles for a hearty three-course dinner, joined by two colleagues from Vlaams Reizigersbond – one of the Belgian pro-public transport associations.
The Annual General Meeting took place in the board room of Eurostar’s headquarters. We are grateful to the train operator for providing complimentary tickets and for allowing us to meet in their office just across the street from Brussels South Station. Four members unable to come to Brussels also joined the meeting by zoom, reviewing our progress over the past year (including the launch of our new website) and making plans for the rest of 2026.
Our General Meetings take place six times a year, with the next one due in London on March 26th and focussing on rail/sea/rail
TG.
