Belgium - General Information

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Country Name

Belgium (Belgie/Belgique)

National Railway System

Since 1 Jan. 2005, the infrastructure (Infrabel) and train operation (SNCB/NMBS) companies have been subsidiaries of the SNCB/NMBS Holding company.

National Railway Operator

Société Nationale des Chemins der fer Belges (SNCB) and Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen (NMBS) are the formal titles of the national railway system in French and Dutch respectively. However, these are usually shortened to "Chemins de fer Belges" and "Belgische spoorwegen". On rolling stock, station signs and publicity material the letter B in an oval is used instead of SNCB or NMBS.

Thalys services are managed jointly with the French railways. Eurostar was originally operated jointly with SNCF and Eurostar (UK) Ltd. but from 2010 is a unitary undertaking (Eurostar International Ltd), owned by the same partners with SNCF holding a controlling interest (55%), London & Continental (owners of Eurostar (UK) Ltd) (40%) and SNCB/NMBS (5%).

Infrastructure Authority

Infrabel

Languages

Belgium consists of three Regions: Flanders, to the north of the provincial boundary line running roughly between Menin and Visé, in which Dutch is the official language; Wallonia, to the south of that line, where French is the official language, and the Capital, Brussels, which is officially bi-lingual but mostly French-speaking. German is officially recognised in the area around Eupen and Malmedy. By law, public bodies must use only the official language(s) of each Region for texts in that Region, so travellers should be aware that, for example, the name of a train's destination may change significally during the journey (eg: Bergen = Mons, Luik = Liège). All railway personnel whose duties involve contact with the public are required on recruitment to show they can speak both languages, and some (especially in Flanders) are also fluent in English etc., but of course others may become rather out-of-practice in their second language. Railway tickets are normally issued from computer terminals and at bilingual stations may be issued in either language, depending on how the passenger requests it; some types of ticket purchases and reservations can now be made via the internet.

Currency

Euro

UIC code

numeric 88; alpha B

Timetable

Journey Planner

Downloadable Timetable

mobility-brochures.b-rail.be/en/timetable-brochures

Printed Timetable

The Spoorboekje/Indicateur officiel, with some text in German and English as well as French and Flemish, is published shortly before the annual change (second Sunday in December). Weekday services for all lines in numerical order are shown first, followed by the corresponding weekend services. The timetable is also available as a series of free leaflets, suitable for holding in a ring binder. A separate free "IC/IR" booklet with details of the regular-interval limited-stop services identified by letters, including diagrams showing the service pattern between the principal stations on weekdays and at weekends, is similarly available at SNCB/NMBS stations. Traditional long-distance international services to and from Belgium are given at the back of the timetable but they have been largely replaced by high-speed trains (Eurostar, Thalys, ICE, TGV), details of which are given in separate leaflets.

Engineering Information

Forward information on engineering works can be obtained from either

News of current or future traffic disruptions and alerts can be obtained at:-

Traffic Disruptions and Alerts

Maps

Printed Maps

  • European Railway Atlas: France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg by M.G. Ball (1991) (ISBN 0-7110-2011-6)
  • European Railway Atlas by M.G. Ball (2008 onwards)

Web-based Maps

  • An SNCB/NMBS plan shows the current network
  • The infrastructure provider has two useful plans: detailed schematic layout plan and overview route plan, identifying line numbers (note that these URLs may change in future years so a little experimentation may be necessary to get later versions).
  • An unofficial map shows the maximum extent of the Belgian system, identifying passenger, freight and closed lines.
  • Sporenplan has a series of on-line schematic track diagrams. Click on "Sporenplannen" on the left hand side for a map showing the countries covered.
  • Thorsten Büker's Benelux Map.
  • Maps and Plans - Belgium

Ticketing

Ordinary tickets for travel between two SNCB/NMBS stations are valid only for direct journeys on the date of issue, in both outward and return directions. If it is desired to break one's journey, to travel other than via the direct route, or to travel on a later date, this must be specified when buying the ticket. The fare for such tickets is calculated from the distance shown in the timetable (which may include some fictional km, eg to finance exceptional infrastructure) and a fixed terminal charge. Numerous discounted fares are available (generally expressed as a % of the ordinarly fare apart from the terminal charge). A summary of the various options for travelling with reduced fares, such as minigroup and weekend returns, is given in the timetable, but for full information you should consult the booklet "Guide du Voyageur - Billets, Pass et Cartes" (or the equivalent in Flemish). Note also that tickets at the special fares applicable in several cases for short cross-border journeys can be bought only at the stations concerned. The Benelux-Tourrail card is particularly useful to tourists, allowing five days unlimited travel on the railways of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg during a period of one month. A penalty charge is levied if a ticket is purchased on the train while the ticket office at the station is open. When boarding without a ticket at an unstaffed station, inform the conductor immediately upon joining the train if you wish to avoid the penalty.

Considerable efforts have been made to improve integration between the various public transport services in Belgium. As well as timetable coordination, this has taken the form of through ticketing, so that travellers can buy a rail ticket valid for connecting travel by bus/tram/métro within the flat-fare zone of major cities. In Brussels, standard flat-fare single, multi-ride and 1-day tickets valid on the urban bus/tram/métro network are now similarly valid for travel by rail between any of the city's stations.

Seat reservations are available only on long-distance international services (they are mandatory on TGV-type services such as Thalys and Eurostar).

Gauge

Standard

Electrification

3kV dc. However, 25kV 50Hz is used on high speed lines and for the recently-completed electrification work in the Ardennes. The Liège to Luxembourg line via Gouvy is 25kV south of Martinrive, as are the lines from Libramont and Anseremme (south of Dinant) to Athus (and on into Luxembourg or France). Dual-system motive-power is used on both these lines, though passenger trains via Bertrix are worked by diesel multiple-units.

Rule of the road

Left (but most lines are signalled for operation in either direction).

Other railways

None (but note that part of the existing nework was orginally built and operated by numerous private companies under concessions that required technical compatibility and inter-operation). Although ticketing for travel on international passenger services by Eurostar, Thalys etc. is handled by the SNCB/NMBS, their tariffs and conditions for reimbursement etc. are completely independent of those applicable to rail travel wholly within Belgium. Suitably-equipped motive power from neighbouring networks has long worked through into Belgium (and vice versa). And new rolling stock produced at Bombardier's factory in Brugge may occasionally be seen on test nearby.

Tourist lines

Standard gauge, unless otherwise noted.

  • Le Chemin de fer à vapeur des Trois Vallées (CF3V) Mariembourg - Treignes.
  • Stoomcentrum vzw Maldegem (SCM): Eeklo - Maldegem; also 600mm gauge line Maldegem - Donk
  • Stoomtrein Dendermonde - Puurs Dendermonde - Puurs
  • Le Rail Rebecq - Rognon 600mm gauge line Rebecq - Rognon (on abandoned standard gauge alignment)
  • Tramway des Grottes de Han (Le Domaine des Grottes de Han) Metre-gauge tramway (diesel operated) Han - Grottes de Han, in conjunction with visits to caves.
  • Le Tramway Touristique de l'Aisne (TTA) Metre-gauge tramway (diesel operated) Pont d'Erezée - Forge-à-l'Aplez. An extension to Dochamps - which (because of steep gradients) only operated if rails were dry, if there were not too many passengers and if staff were available - is no longer advertised while a long-planned extension thence to Lamormenil seems to have been abandoned.
  • Le chemin de fer de Sprimont (CFS) 600mm gauge line Sprimont - Damré (see Agenda for dates of operation).
  • Association pour la Sauvegarde du Vicinal (ASVi) Lobbes - Thuin - Biesme-sous-Thuin. Metre-gauge tramway, based at museum on site of Thuin Nord station.
  • Chemin de Fer du Bocq (CFB Ciney - Purnode (Bocq valley) line. Work has started on extending from Purnode to Evrehailles- Bauche.
  • Kolenspoor Waterschei - As - Eisden. This normally operates in two separate sections, As - Eisden in May, June, September & October and As - Waterschei in July & August, making it impossible to do both parts of the line by train in one visit. A regular special ‘De Blauwe Wimpel’ also runs for supporters of KRC Genk football club to ASLV Halte - at or near to Waterschei station. It is not known if the 600mm gauge line at As still runs. Railbike Limburg, based at As station, operates from April to November and at weekends in the school holidays - apparently to Eisden (see "Rail cycling" below).

Rail cycling is possible on a number of lines; see the IG Draisinenfahrten website. Click on 'International', followed by 'Draisinenlinks' to obtain website details under the heading 'Draisinenstrecken in Belgien (BE)'.

Metro

Bruxelles, Antwerpen and Charleroi. The two latter networks consist of the central sections of metre-gauge tram routes.

Trams

City networks in Antwerpen, Bruxelles, Charleroi and Gent. The Kusttram operates along the coast in either direction from Oostende. In Bruxelles, the Musée du Transport Urbain Bruxellois - in the former Woluwe tram depôt - operates historic trams to Tervuren, and sometimes elsewhere around the city, as advertised, while in Antwerpen the Vlaams Tram- en Autobusmuseum - in a former depôt near Berchem station - similarly operates in the city, as advertised. See also the references to tramways under Tourist Lines.

Recent and future changes

Most of the Belgian railway system is now electrified. Further electrification is not foreseen, except for the new extension of the Brussel/Bruxelles Airport branch. Major upgrading and new infrastructure (four-tracking) work has begun within a radius of about 30 km around Brussels in order to enable a "Regional Express Railway" (RER/GEN) to be created.

The restoration of scheduled local passenger services across the French border on the "classic" Nord main line from Quévy to Maubeuge and Aulnoye-Aymeries has been tried twice but EU policy requires cross-border services (unlike wholly internal ones) to be commercially viable; this proved impossible as this (and similar services), unlike competing road services, generally suffer from the need to comply with two independent sets of national standards, yet have a relatively small potential traffic. European "harmonisation" has yet to succeed in such instances.

A new short cutoff through a tunnel, avoiding the sharply curved section through Dolhain-Gileppe on the 'classic' route between Liège and Verviers, opened on 11 December 2011.

"Project Diabolo", a northward extension of the Brussels Airport branch to join Line 25N (the new direct Brussels - Mechelen line running along the middle of the E19 motorway) by means of a triangular junction, opened on 10 June 2012 together with Line 25N itself.

SNCB announced service cuts at the end of 2012, which involved withdrawal of certain local trains early in the morning and during the evening. However, local trains between Erquelinnes [BE] and Jeumont [FR] were withdrawn from 10 September 2012, severing this international crossing point for passengers.

Owing to technical problems encountered on the Fyra trains, SNCB and NS Hispeed suspended Fyra train services in Februray 2013 until further notice. A substitute direct InterCity service between Brussel/Bruxelles and Den Haag was inctroduced from 18 February 2013 with 2 trains each way per day, which increases to 8 trains from 11 March 2013.

From Monday 18 February onwards, a new direct Intercity train will temporarily connect Brussels and The Hague. Initially, this train will ensure 2 departures a day each way. From 11 March onwards, the frequency will be increased to 8 departures a day. This


The new "Watermael-Schuman-Josaphat" tunnel between Brussel/Bruxelles-Schuman and Line 26 south of Meiser broke through to Line 26 on 24 March 2012. Services should start in December 2015, running to Brussels Airport via Line 25N and the south curve at Machelen.

Special notes

In principle, all passenger services within Belgium run at intervals of one hour or less (two hours, in the case of the routes with the least traffic) between approximately 06:00 and 22:00, grouped into three categories:

  • Intercity (IC, stopping only at main stations)
  • Inter-regional (IR, stopping at stations of at least medium importance)
  • Local (L, stopping at all stations en route).

Where possible, the schedules are designed to ensure convenient connections between L trains and limited-stop services. Additional trains are scheduled outside the fixed-interval framework in the early morning and late evening, at peak hours (P), and for tourist traffic in the holiday season (T).

Many trains consist of electric multiple-units and some such services split en route to go to different destinations. Older units don't always carry a label to show where they are going, with reliance on ticket checks and public address announcements (making reference to the unit number, also displayed over the internal doorways) to ensure passengers are in the correct part of the train.

Each rail line in Belgium is identified by a line number, which is usually the same as the corresponding table number in the public timetable. Line numbers are displayed in white on blue hexagonal boards beside the track at junctions. Information intended for railway staff only (eg depots and stabling points, types of equipment) is conveyed by means of telegraphic codes; FSD = Ostend , HLE = electric loco etc.). Other trackside boards indicate line speed-limits (in tens of km/h), gradients over 12/1000, prohibition of 3-phase motive power ("DMT") etc.

Signal post numbering

  • in controlled area: F37 = signal F of blok (= block post or signal box) 37.
  • automatic signals on open line: A806 = signal on track A at km 80,6; BX753 = signal on track B for trains running in "wrong" (right-hand) direction at km 75,3, where the X denotes "wrong" direction; signals for use in the wrong direction show occulting aspects - the V of small white lights above certain signals is lit when the signal is cleared for a movement starting or ending such 'wrong direction' running.

Passenger train numbering

  • the concept of "up" and "down" (or pair and impair in French practice) to describe the direction of movement does not apply in Belgium; on a double track line one will be "A" and the other "B", with direction "A" being that in which the trackside km increases.
  • internal trains carry three or four digit numbers of which the first two digits denote route (and indicate direction) while the final digit(s) provide unique train number within that route - whether the final digit is odd or even carries no significance.
  • trains between SNCB/NMBS and NS or CFL adopt Belgian practice throughout.
  • trains between SNCB/NMBS and SNCF carry different numbers within France (following the French pair/impair numbering practice) from those carried in Belgium.
  • International trains (classified as such) may have two (adjacent - one odd, one even) numbers, to accommodate the numbering systems of those adjacent administrations where odd and even numbers do denote direction; for motorail (AutoTrain) services originating in Benelux, the odd number will be one less than the even number.

See also