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On the Eurostar website, when booking a ticket to Brussels, it gives the main options of Brussels and Any Belgian station (via Brussels). If you pick the former, it shows this:

Eurostar website

The first line of that states:

Your Eurostar ticket will be valid for travel to and from Brussels-Midi/Zuid and within the Brussels metropolitan area only.

(And then goes on to explain the advantages of the slightly more expensive And Belgian Station ticket)

However, I can't seem to find anything on their website which explains what the boundary is that they're using for the Brussels metropolitan area only, nor things like what it's valid for (trains? local trains only? trains and trams? metro? etc). While for the And Belgian Station ticket they explain how far after your Eurostar journey and how long before the ticket is valid, again for these Brussels-only tickets they're valid.

That leads me to four linked questions:

  • What area / stations are these Eurostar Brussels (only) tickets valid for onward transport to?
  • What are they valid on? (eg local trains, all trains, trains and metro etc)
  • After my Eurostar gets in, how long are they valid for this local connection for? i.e. How long can I spend in Brussels Midi before setting off and still have them valid?
  • Before my return Eurostar leaves, how far in advance are they valid?
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Regular tickets to Brussels bought in the Benelux (i.e. not the special Thalys, Eurostar, etc. international tickets) are typically marked as “Zone Bruxelles”. The English-language version only has a definition but the French-language website of the Belgian railways lists the following stations as part of the “Brussels zone”:

Berchem-Ste-Agathe, Bockstael, Boitsfort, Boondael, Bordet, Bruxelles-Central,Bruxelles-Chapelle, Bruxelles-Congrès, Bruxelles-Midi, Bruxelles-Nord, Bruxelles-Ouest, Bruxelles-Luxembourg, Bruxelles-Schuman, Delta, Etterbeek, Evere, Forest-Est, Forest-Midi, Germoir, Haren, Haren-Sud, Jette, Meiser, Mérode, Moensberg, Saint-Job, Schaerbeek, Simonis, Tour et Taxis, Uccle-Calevoet, Uccle-Stalle, Vivier d'oie/Diesdelle, Watermael

I don't have more specific information but I assume it's the same for Eurostar tickets (that might also be the reason why the Eurostar website is silent; unlike the “Any Belgian station” ticket, it's not a special offer of any kind, just the way national tickets work in Belgium). I could not find official info on that either but forum posts suggests such tickets are only valid for direct – or at least reasonable – train connections (no bus or metro, no dinner at Midi station).

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  • Just some nitpicking: not only long-distance trains work like that but all national tickets to Brussels. Totally agree with the answer and also couldn't find an official reference on the Eurostar website.
    – Some wandering yeti
    Commented Apr 26, 2016 at 21:11
  • I can't prove it, and I'm a "bit" late, but I'm pretty sure that those are the stations in the Brussels Capital Region: maps.google.be/maps/place/Brussels+Capital+Region. Seeing it on the map makes it perhaps more clear where one can travel.
    – Roel Schroeven
    Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 16:46

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