Ixelles wants Etterbeek station to carry its name

The municipality of Ixelles wants to rename Etterbeek rail station - and Etterbeek isn't happy.

The SNCB station, despite bearing Etterbeek's name, is actually located within the territory of Ixelles and the local council wants it renamed Ixelles-Universities because of its proximity to the VUB and ULB campuses.

The motion was unanimously approved by Ixelles municipal council last week. Green party councillor Geoffrey Roucourt said it was about time that at least one of the municipality's four rail stations had Ixelles in its name (the others are Germoir, Boondael and Brussels-Luxembourg).

Etterbeek mayor Vincent De Wolf said his municipality had not been consulted on the proposed name change. "It's a shame, especially since we work together on several projects," he said.

"Historically, the station was indeed on our territory and when the border was moved, the SNCB didn't consider it useful to change the name, especially as we are really on the border between the two communes.

"I think it would be a mistake to change the name because it's been that way for over a century. The station is known as such by all users. It would not bring anything positive in terms of mobility."

He added: "We created a hospital together called Etterbeek-Ixelles. Why now call the station the same name?"

An SNCB spokesman said: "Our aim is to give each station the clearest name possible." Three stations were renamed last year, including Louvain-la-Neuve-Université, which dropped the university from its name.