Geleen Oost Still following the Geleenbeek river this station brought me to Geleen, which is served by two stations - however I travelled via Geleen Oost only on this day, and from the station cycled into the pretty center and visited the shops, bakery, cafes and did a spot of shopping on the grey rainy day I was there. When mining stopped in these regions they became large scale industrial areas and Geleen is home to DSM and SABIC the world's largest petrochemical companies. The plants are large and it is fascinating to whizz by on the train at night when all is dark and all that you can see are you whirl past is the blur of the lights of the refineries - it's actually very beautiful to witness. In the cold light of day not so inspiring depending on your perspective of course- these regions offer a lifeline in terms of employment and they manufacture the raw materials for most of the world's consumer goods from plaastics and methanol to nutrition components, paints, ...