All Belgium articles
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NewsFive steps to boost Belgian rail freight
BELGIUM: Privatised freight operator Lineas has called for Belgium’s national and regional governments to take five steps which it says are needed to improve the competitiveness of rail freight and help address road congestion, climate change and the energy transition. These are: Competitive fairness: the ...
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Metro Report InternationalBudget squeeze curtails Liège tram plans
BELGIUM: Test running has started on the north-south tram route in Liège, which is now expected to open on January 31 2025, around three years later than envisaged.
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NewsBrussels – Venezia night train to serve winter sports and city break destinations
EUROPE: Open access night train operator European Sleeper is to launch a seasonal Brussels – Utrecht – Köln – München – Innsbruck – Verona – Venezia service to winter sports and city trip destinations. The service is being planned around school holidays, the peak winter sports ...
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NewsLiège – Maastricht – Aachen regional services finally launched
EUROPE: A through regional passenger train service linking Liège in Belgium with Aachen in Germany via Maastricht in the Netherlands was finally launched on June 30. Branded as LIMAX for the cities served, the so-called Three Countries Service was originally expected to start running in 2018. ...
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In depthRolling Stock: Independently accessible M7 coach unveiled
The first of SNCB’s multi-functional M7 push-pull coaches with a 760 mm entrance for level boarding has been presented at Alstom’s Brugge works. Dr Harry Hondius reports.
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NewsEurostar plans to acquire 50 ‘fully interoperable’ trains
EUROPE: International high speed train operator Eurostar says it is ‘preparing to invest’ in up to 50 high speed trainsets, which would be fully interoperable ’across five countries and beyond’. The new trains would enter service from the early 2030s, replacing the 17 PBKA and nine ...
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NewsConcrete sleeper business bought
EUROPE: French rail infrastructure supplier SATEBA Group has acquired the concrete sleeper manufacturing activities of Belgian company De Bonte Group. This includes more than 80 employees who last year produced 500 000 sleepers at plants in Laakdal and Baudour in Belgium and Montataire and Vers-Pont-du-Gard in ...
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NewsStars align for night train service
BELGIUM: Support for overnight train services from Belgium is coming from an unexpected source, according to one of the more unusual missives to reach the Railway Gazette International inbox. According to a Verdic astrologer from India, the recent extension of European Sleeper’s Brussels – Berlin service ...
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NewsLineas seeks FAME with biofuel locomotive
BELGIUM: Lineas has unveiled a FAME locomotive, powered by fatty acid methyl ester biofuel produced from non-food raw materials such as used cooking oil. Lineas said this offers a readily available alternative to diesel, and has been used in marine engines but not yet in locomotives. ...
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NewsRail freight service launched following Houthi attacks on shipping
EUROPE: Rail freight operator Lineas has collaborated with container handler CSP Zeebrugge to launch a service between the Belgian port and Graz in Austria for COSCO Shipping Lines, which has had to divert vessels away from the Red Sea because of attacks by Houthi rebels. The ...
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NewsSNCB unveils independently accessible coach
BELGIUM: National operator SNCB has unveiled the first of 130 double-deck coaches to facilitate wheelchair users travelling without assistance.
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NewsInfrabel orders Alstom self-encoding Eurobalises
BELGIUM: Infrabel has ordered an initial batch of advanced Eurobalises from Alstom with a built-in encoding capability for use with ETCS Level 1 Limited Supervision as well as track worker protection. Eurobalises are used to transmit safety-critical data from track to train in ERTMS applications, typically ...
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NewsStart-up announces Amsterdam to London and Paris high speed train ambitions
Source: Nikolay/Pixabay EUROPE: A proposal to launch high speed train services from Amsterdam to London and from Groningen to Paris has been announced by Dutch start-up Heuro, while Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson is also reported to be looking at competing with Eurostar on cross-Channel routes. ...
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NewsCEO sets out how the merged Eurostar business aims to go further
EUROPE: ‘We are opening a new chapter of the Eurostar story’ with ‘our most loyal customers as the main characters’, Eurostar CEO Gwendoline Cazenave said at an event on October 9 marking the launch of an international marketing campaign following the completion of the merger with Thalys.
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NewsMedway Belgium orders electric locos
BELGIUM: MSC subsidiary Medway Belgium has ordered 15 Siemens Mobility Vectron MS electric locomotives for use on cross-border freight services from Belgium. The 6·4 MW locos with a maximum speed of 160 km/h will be used on routes to Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Hungary, the ...
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NewsActive Audio amplifies announcements in Leuven
BELGIUM: The quality and audibility of acoustic announcements at Leuven station has been enhanced through the installation of a set of advanced loudspeakers to a novel design. French supplier Active Audio says the installation is the largest deployment to date of its steerable StepArray SA180S column ...
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Metro Report InternationalMediator proposes revised timetable for Liège tram completion
BELGIUM: Opening of the Liège tram route could be put back to January 2025 under proposals tabled by mediators appointed to review the delays and cost over-runs on the PPP-funded project. The 11·7 km line is being built for Wallonnie public transport operator OTW by the ...
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Metro Report InternationalFunding crisis hits Brussels metro Line 3 project
BELGIUM: Citing significant delays and cost over-runs with the development of the north-south metro Line 3 in Brussels, federal project promoter Beliris has requested guidance from the federal and regional governments by July 15 over the future direction of the complex project.
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NewsQbuzz and Flixtrain plan international open access services from the Netherlands
NETHERLANDS: Qbuzz has applied to competition authority Autoriteit Consument & Markt for permission to operate seven Amsterdam – Berlin and seven Amsterdam – Antwerpen – Brussels – Paris open access passenger services from January 2027, plus two trains per hour from Amsterdam to Eindhoven. The international ...
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NewsNetherlands – Belgium – France open access train service planned
EUROPE: Arriva Nederland has applied for permission to launch an open access passenger service from the north of the Netherlands to Belgium and Paris.