The Belgian railway line 36 is a

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

connecting

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

. Completed in 1866, the line runs 99.3 km. Trains running between Brussels and

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

use the line as far as Liège, and then line 37 between Liège and the German border, the last stop in Belgium being

Welkenraedt Welkenraedt (; Ripuarian: ; wa, Welkenrote) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Welkenraedt had a total population of 9,920. The total area is 24.47 km² which gives a population d ...

. Between Schaarbeek and Leuven, the line is 4-track; the outer tracks serve local trains with many stops, while the central tracks carry intercity and high-speed trains; these are called L36N, and branch off after Leuven onto a separate route that mostly follows the E5 motorway towards Liege. The

Diabolo project The Diabolo project created a new railway line serving Brussels National Airport. It is so called because of its shape, resembling a Chinese yo-yo: the line forms a chord between the Brussels-Leuven line 36 going east and the new Brussels-Antw ...

connects L36 to the station under

Brussels Airport Brussels Airport, nl, Luchthaven Brussel, vls, Vliegpling Brussel, german: Flughafen Brüssel is an international airport northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Bruss ...

. The following stations are located on the line: * * * *

Diegem Diegem is a town in the municipality of Machelen, Flemish Brabant, Belgium. Its gothic church, inaugurated in 1543, in the centre of town, has a conspicuous tiered spire. The town is served by Diegem railway station, which is situated on the B ...

Zaventem Zaventem () is a Belgian municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant. It is located in the Dijleland area, one of the three large recreational areas which together form the '' Groene Gordel'' ("Green Belt") around the Brussels-Capital Region. ...

* *

Kortenberg Kortenberg (; french: Cortenbergh) is a Belgian municipality located in the province of Flemish Brabant, about halfway between the cities of Brussels and Leuven. The municipality comprises the subdivisions or deelgemeenten of Erps-Kwerps, Everbe ...

Erps-Kwerps Erps-Kwerps is a village in the Belgian Province of Flemish Brabant and a sub-municipality of Kortenberg. It has an area of 15.94 km^2. Geography Neighbouring places are Nederokkerzeel (municipality of Kampenhout), Kortenberg, (municipalit ...

* Veltem *

Herent Herent () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the villages and former municipalities of Herent proper, Veltem-Beisem and Winksele. On January 1, 2016, ...

* * Vertrijk *

Tienen Tienen (; french: Tirlemont ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Marg ...

* Ezemaal *

Neerwinden Neerwinden is a village in Belgium in the province of Flemish Brabant, a few miles southeast of Tienen. It is now part of the municipality of Landen. The village gave its name to two great battles. The Battle of Neerwinden (1693), first battle w ...

Landen Landen () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Landen proper and the villages of Attenhoven, Eliksem, Eze ...

Waremme Waremme (; nl, Borgworm, ; wa, Wareme) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, in Belgium. The city is located on the River Geer ( nl, Jeker), in the loessic Haspengouw region. The economy is based on the c ...

* Bleret * Remicourt * Momalle *

Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher (; wa, Fexhe-å-Hôt-Clokî) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher had a total population of 3,019. The total area is 19.25 km² which gives ...

* Voroux-Goreux * Bierset-Awans * *

Inclined Planes of Liège

Between Ans and Liège the railway line has to descend 358 feet within less than 5 miles. This steep incline was initially negotiated with the help of a fixed engine driving an endless rope that was used to haul the trains without the help of a locomotive. After the late 1860s, special banking locomotives were used and the fixed engine was discarded. Another line (line 36A) was built to bypass the incline but this line is only used by freight trains. When line 36 was electrified in 1955, most of the trains still needed a banking engine. Currently, some trains are powerful enough to climb the incline without a helper and the rest are provided with two locomotives. The rear engine is no longer removed at Ans in order to save time.

References

36 36 City of Brussels Leuven Liège Standard gauge railways in Belgium Railway lines opened in 1837 {{Europe-rail-transport-stub