First completed in 1952 after protracted delays caused by economic difficulties and World War II, it is the newest of Brussels' main rail hubs.

The famed architect Victor Horta was awarded the design of the Central Station building complex in 1910.

Plans for the station originally featured a major urban redevelopment project, for which land was purchased and over 1,000 buildings demolished in the 1920s.

The building was completed according to Horta's plans by Brunfaut, who expanded them by adding a new train line to Brussels Airport, in the suburb of Zaventem, as well as several underground passageways for pedestrians.

[5] The Central Station was renovated between 2004 and 2010 in an attempt to better equip it to present levels of usage (which can reach 150,000 passengers/day on the busiest days).

[7] An architectural firm had been retained in 2010 to implement the project designed to make the hallway a better "window" to Brussels for the many travellers who begin their journey there.

An Islamic jihadist attempted to detonate a suitcase bomb in the Central Station in the failed June 2017 Brussels attack; there were no casualties.

[12] Although the railway station is at the very heart of the city, its capacity is not adapted to present usage levels (c. 70,000 passengers on a weekday), let alone future ones.

The interior and the platforms have been renovated in recent years, but the main problem (i.e. lack of capacity) has not fundamentally been addressed.

Some credit a general taboo against discussions of expanding the North–South connection as a result of the history of extended delays and widespread destruction of neighbourhood blocks that the initial construction brought between 1911 and 1952.