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DISCOVER THE EVOLUTION OF HIGH SPEED LINES

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Come aboard, pick a seat and enjoy the train ride through the evolution of high speed lines in Belgium

PBKAL

station signs

1986

At the annual conference of the Ministers of Transport for France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands, a high-speed network between Paris – Brussels - Cologne/Amsterdam (PBKAL) was discussed for the first time. The L referred to London, which would also be connected to this network via the Channel Tunnel.

PBKAL

signs
station signs
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Channel railway tunnel in France

TUNNEL

1 YEAR LATER...

A year later, France greenlit a high-speed line from Paris to the Channel Tunnel/Belgian border. In November 1989, 4 Ministers agreed on the HSL in The Hague. Belgium approved it in 1990. Concurrently, construction of the 50km Channel railway tunnel was in full swing.

ATTENTION

We are entering the Channel Tunnel

tunnel

It's so dark in here, can you turn on the lights of our train?

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LOTS OF
COMPROMISE

Yet again, a compromise was reached. In Flanders, with the exception of the Antwerp - Dutch border section, no high-speed train lines would be constructed.

LEMBEEK - FRENCH BORDER

ANTWERP - DUTCH BORDER

Belgium
new high-speed lines

December 14, 1997

72KM

distance line

Lembeek

French border

December 15, 2002

63KM

distance line

Leuven

Liège

June 12, 2009

6.5KM

distance line

Chênée

Walhorn

December 13, 2009

+35KM

distance line

Antwerp

Dutch border

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CHÊNÉE - WALHORN

LEUVEN - LIÈGE

The Monster

A 'triangle' was planned for the HST to The Netherlands and Germany. A resistance to this MONSTER was threatening in the Campine region, while Wallonia was unwilling to countenance Liège being left out of the HST.

ROAR

In16YEARS

Belgium became the first European country with a full 300 km/h High-Speed Line (HSL) network, costing over 5 billion euros—the highest investment since the 1958 World Expo.

speedometer

300 KM/H

The funds covered high-speed lines, the 3.8 km-long underground North-South link in Antwerp, and upgrades to Brussels-Midi, Antwerpen-Centraal, and Liège-Guillemins stations.

THE RAILWAY BARRIER IS CLOSED AND WILL OPEN SOON

GAIN AS MUCH SPEED BY ANSWERING CORRECT TO PASS BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE

Belgian speed trains

The city-centric high-speed train, outperformed air transport on the Brussels - Paris Thalys route. Eurostar connects Brussels to London in two hours. Since 1995, domestic railways, with expanded services, infrastructure investments, and comfortable double-decker trains, have steadily grown their customer base.

Thalys

Eurostar

SNCB - group

To remain in line with European regulations, the NMBS/SNCB, that was founded in 1926, was split into three companies on January 1, 2005: the coordinating SNCB-Holding, railway operator NMBS/SNCB and infrastructure manager Infrabel. Together, they formed the SNCB-Group.

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SNCB GROUP

logo of Infrabel
logo of NMBS
logo of NMBS Holding

THE line SPLIT

The federal parliament carried out a new restructuring in 2014, aimed at more efficient management and better operational performance. NMBS/SNCB and Infrabel became two independent companies, with the responsibilities of SNCB-Holding shared out between both.

SPLIT

logo of nmbs

NMBS, operates the passenger trains and maintains the rolling stock. It also owns all station buildings and manages all the stations and stops.

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ball with star
ball and star
logo of Infrabel

Infrabel, manages and modernises the railway infrastructure, controls train traffic and is responsible for the allocation of train paths to all railway operators.

logo of HR-Rail

HR-Rail, legal employer of the entire complement of railway personnel. They offer an integrated HR service to NMBS/SNCB and Infrabel, including social consultation and recruitment.

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ball with star

OH NO!

A WINDSTORM CAUSED THE TRACKS TO FLY INTO PIECES!

QUICKLY BECOME AN INFRABEL EMPLOYEE TO REPAIR THE RAILS!

rail rail
track
rail rail

21st century

21st

century

NMBS/SNCB and Infrabel continue to invest in new stock modernising the railways.

light-weight train

year

NMBS/SNCB brought a new range of electric units into service for local/regional passenger transport. This consists of 305 three-part electric units of the ‘Desiro Main Line’ type. These are light-weight trains with a low-floor section, making them very suited to routes with many stops.

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Triangle

The Diabolo, providing northern access to Zaventem (Brussels Airport), was completed in 2012. It includes a new railway line between Mechelen and Schaerbeek, linked to the airport via a railway triangle.

Transform

Since 2006, the Brussels suburban network (RER) has undergone significant transformations, including line expansions, new railway bridges, restoration of old stops, and the construction of the Schuman-Josaphat Tunnel. The RER suburban network was officially opened on December 13, 2015.

seats
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NMBS/SNCB debuted the first M7 carriages in 2020, totaling 445 double-decker carriages with 50,000 seats. The design, informed by a thorough traveler survey, won the prize at the esteemed Henry van de Velde Awards in January 2019. The carriages will also incorporate cutting-edge safety systems.

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DISCOVER

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