Category: News

First edition of RailTech Belgium opens registration

The first speakers of the conference are confirmed, among which Georges Gilkinet, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mobility in Belgium, Michel Ruesen, Managing Director of the ERTMS Users Group and Thierry Vanelslander, professor at the Department of Transport and Regional Economics of the University of Antwerp. The conference topics The morning conference will look… Read more ›

Infrabel completes 12-year upgrade project of Belgian port shunting yard

The Zwankendamme bundle has ten electrified tracks, four of which are long tracks. In addition to these tracks, there is a separate bundle of 4 tracks where Infrabel customers can temporarily park their locomotives. In the past, locomotives were parked in the shunting yard, which resulted in a loss of capacity. The new infrastructure also… Read more ›

Major improvements for Brussels’ public transport infrastructure planned for 2023

The work will require 3,150 metres of track beams, 134 prefabricated track modules and more than 400 intermediate precast slabs, as well as 5,000 square metres of bricks embedded in those modules, almost 1,900 metres of drainage trenches, more than 7,500 concrete sleepers and as many thousands of accessories for fixing and protecting the tracks…. Read more ›

ETCS rollout in Belgium continues unabated

With more than 2,000 kilometres, the level ETCS1 FS is the most prevalent on the Belgian network, followed by ETCS1 LS. This article was originally published on RailTech.com the organiser of RailTech Belgium.

RailTech Belgium 2023: what is it all about?

Conference sessions When it comes to rail, Belgium is a frontrunner in several areas, such as rail electrification and the rollout of ERTMS on the network. The modal split of rail for passengers in Belgium is however just 5.4 percent in 2020, which is not high but the average in the EU, and for freight… Read more ›

Eurostar might not be driving home for Christmas

Under scrutiny The timing of the strike action is unfortunate, not only because of Christmas and the holiday season but also because Eurostar is already under scrutiny for its recent change in strategy. In late August, the company said it wants to focus on what it describes as “core routes” as it “recovers financially” from… Read more ›

AllRail warns Belgian government for sustaining SNCB monopoly

‘Inconsistent with EU law’ AllRail sees three fundamental inconsistencies with EU law with this procedure, the first being that no market analysis has been carried out at all to see whether a public service contract for all train services is necessary and justified. Secondly, the scope of the public service contract is “neither properly defined… Read more ›

Belgium to encourage night trains by covering energy and access charges in ‘European first’

To encourage railway operators to run night trains to and from Belgium, the federal government wants to cover the costs of using the rail infrastructure and energy charges. A proposal for this was submitted by the Belgian Minister of Mobility and has now been approved by the Council of Ministers. 

Thalys services between Brussels and Paris severely disrupted

Thalys is forced to cancel a host of planned trains between Brussels and Paris on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the high-speed operator announced on Friday. Earlier that day, the 09:15 from Amsterdam to Paris had to be cancelled as well. Due to unexpected maintenance, Thalys has a shortage of train sets. Track works are… Read more ›

Alstom to install ETCS on 120 Belgian SNCB locomotives

Supplier Alstom has won a contract for to equip 120 SNCB locomotives with train control system ETCS level 2. The project to install the system launches in October 2022 and will run for three years.