About this journey

Oostende station sits at the western end of the Belgian rail network, a neoclassical terminus opened in 1913 in Scottish granite, bluestone from Soignies and limestone from Euville, and conceived from the outset to link trains with cross-Channel ferries. The coastal town's railway history reaches back to 1838, when the section of Belgian railway line 50A between Ghent and Ostend was completed, placing it among the earliest railways in the country. For many years the station also served international passengers: Thalys high-speed services connected Oostende to Paris daily from 1998 until 31 March 2015.

The journey east follows line 50A toward Ghent, a corridor whose Brussels extension was built in stages between 1923 and 1933 to offer a faster inland connection. At Gent-Sint-Pieters station — the route's principal interchange — the train leaves the main Brussels axis and turns south toward Oudenaarde. That final stretch brings the ride into the Flemish Ardennes, arriving at a town whose identity is closely tied to cycling: the men's Tour of Flanders has finished in Oudenaarde since 2012, and the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen museum is based there. The journey moves from a coastal terminus shaped by sea crossings and international rail to a quiet inland destination defined by hills and road racing.