At the beginning of the railway era, city councils and military authorities refused to allow stations and railway tracks to be constructed within the city walls. This is why the Brussels-Allée Verte and Brussels-North stations were built outside the city walls. In 1840 however, the first Brussels-South station was erected within the city walls. The Brussels city council even exempted the railways from the toll that normally should have been paid. This patent law was only generally abolished in 1860.

Mechelen station was also built outside the city walls. Not long afterwards, a new residential district was built between the city gates and the station, which soon became as important as the city itself. Engineer Gustave De Ridder had housing for railway personnel built around the first Central Workshop. Street names such as Locomotiefstraat (Locomotive Street) still bear witness to this today.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, city planning was largely linked to the development of the railways. Stations were generally built on the most prominent side of each city. They became the most important access route and were sometimes referred to as the new city gates, by analogy to the city gates of the Middle Ages.

The same development happened again at the start of the 21st century. Stations were enlarged, renovated, modernised or rebuilt. This generally led to a metamorphosis of the station environment and even a redevelopment of the surrounding neighbourhoods. The new, futuristic-looking railway temple in Liège and the successful restoration of Antwerp-Central station are the most striking examples of this. There are still a number of other big station projects underway, such as Mechelen, Gent-Sint-Pieters and Mons.