Belgian railway news – Page 2
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NewsUber partners with Gemini for Channel Tunnel train plan
EUROPE: Ridesharing app company Uber has announced a co-branding partnership with Gemini Trains, which is developing plans to launch open access passenger services through the Channel Tunnel
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Metro Report InternationalEarly morning launch for Liège tram services
BELGIUM: The Liège tramway has opened to passengers, with the first commercial service leaving Liège-Expo at 04.22 on April 28. The 11·7 km line connects northern termini at Coronmeuse and Liège-Expo with a southern terminus at Sclessin-Standard, with 23 stops.
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NewsGemini announces cross-Channel passenger train ambitions
EUROPE: Gemini Trains becomes the latest company to set out plans to take on Eurostar on the cross-Channel route linking London with Paris and Brussels.
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NewsPreferred bidder chosen to renew SNCB’s DC fleet
BELGIUM: National passenger train operator SNCB has selected CAF as preferred bidder to supply the future AM30 electric and battery-electric multiple-units. At the end of 2022 SNCB called tenders for a 12-year framework agreement covering the supply of 160 km/h 3 k V DC units offering ...
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News‘Co-operation between historic operators’ sees Ouigo low-cost trains reach Brussels
EUROPE: In what the two incumbents term ‘a co-operation between historic operators’, SNCF and SNCB have launched a low-cost loco-hauled Ouigo service between Paris and Brussels.
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NewsEuroCity Direct augments Benelux push-pull services
EUROPE: A new EuroCity Direct cross-border inter-city service connecting Brussels and Amsterdam was launched with the timetable change on December 15.
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NewsETCS-ready onboard unit certified for TBL1+
BELGIUM: An onboard Automatic Train Protection system being developed for international freight operator Lineas by Škoda Group affiliate The Signalling Company has been certified for operation using Belgium’s TBL1+ Class B train control technology. The equipment is built around TSC’s universal digital rail platform iEVC-RailOS, which ...
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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. ...