Belgium was heavily involved in the early development of railway transport. Belgium was the second country in
Europe, after
Great Britain, to open a railway and produce locomotives. The first line, between the cities of
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 ...
and
Mechelen opened in 1835. Belgium was the first state in Europe to create a national railway network and the first to possess a nationalised railway system. The network expanded fast as Belgium
industrialised
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econom ...
, and by the early 20th century was increasingly under state-control. The nationalised railways, under the umbrella organisation
National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB), retained their monopoly until
liberalisation
Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...
in the 2000s.
Background
Attempts to build railways in Belgium significantly predated the establishment of the first line. In 1829, the British-Belgian industrialist
John Cockerill tried to obtain a concession from the
Dutch king William I to build a railway line from
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 ...
to
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, , without success. Shortly after the independence of
Belgium from the Netherlands after the
Belgian Revolution
The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium.
Th ...
of 1830, a debate opened on the desirability of establishing public railway lines using the steam locomotives recently developed in England, where the
first private railway had been completed in 1825.
Post-independence
Following the
Belgian Revolution
The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium.
Th ...
of 1830, when Belgium split from the
Netherlands, Belgium became a key site of railway development. In 1831, a proposal to build a railway between Antwerp and
Cologne (in neighbouring
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
) which would link the industrializing
Ruhr and
Meuse valleys with the ports of the
Scheldt was considered by the Chamber of Representatives but was eventually rejected. In August 1831, however, the government launched a big scale survey (under the supervision of Pierre Simons and Gustave de Ridder) of potential sites for railways which, it was hoped, would help to regenerate the Belgian economy. Particularly in
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and ...
circles, it was felt that railways would not serve a purely economic function, but were also necessary part of forging Belgian national identity.
Rail networks and railways
First railways
Unlike the
United Kingdom, where early railways had been developed by the private sector, the state took the initiative in the development of railways in Belgium, partly out of the fear that large banks, like the ''
Société Générale de Belgique
The ' ( nl, Generale Maatschappij van België; literally "General Company of Belgium") was a large Belgian bank and later holdings company which existed between 1822 and 2003.
The ''Société générale'' was originally founded as an invest ...
'' could develop a
monopoly in the industry. Considering that the railways would be a major economic resource and a full national network would be necessary, the Belgian government was unusual at the time for planning a national network in advance before any was built.
At first, only one line was studied (the line between Antwerp and the Prussian border).
However, the project quickly evolved:
* Instead of a direct line, the Antwerp - Cologne line was rerouted through
Mechelen (where a short stub line to Brussels could be built),
Leuven
Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...
,
Liège and
Verviers. This itinerary was longer and more complicated but it would be more profitable and generate more traffic ;
* Another line, starting at Mechelen, would reach
Dendermonde,
Ghent,
Bruges
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population.
The area of the whole city a ...
and
Ostend
Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariaker ...
, granting a safe access to the sea (since the Dutch were able to blockade the Scheldt, cutting Antwerp away from the sea) ;.
[Dambly, 1989, p. 6-7]
* A southbound line would link Brussels and
Mons, an industrial town at the heart of the ''
Sillon industriel
The ''Sillon industriel'' (, "industrial furrow") is the former industrial backbone of Belgium. It runs across the region of Wallonia, passing from Dour, the region of Borinage, in the west, to Verviers in the east, passing along the way through ...
'', before crossing the French border
(near
Quiévrain
Quiévrain (; pcd, Kievrin) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
On 1 January 2006, the municipality had 6,559 inhabitants. The total area is 21.22 km2, giving a population density of 309 inhabitants p ...
), where a connecting line could reach
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...
, in northern France.
In 1834, the Belgian government approved a plan to build a railway between
Mons, and the port of
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, via
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 ...
at a cost of 150 million
Belgian franc
The Belgian franc ( nl, Belgische frank, french: Franc belge, german: Belgischer Franken) was the currency of the Kingdom of Belgium from 1832 until 2002 when the Euro was introduced. It was subdivided into 100 subunits, each known as a in Dutch ...
s. The first stretch of the Belgian railway network, between northern Brussels and
Mechelen, it was completed in 1835 and was the first steam passenger railway in
continental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, b ...
. The line between
Liège and
Ostend
Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariaker ...
meant that the country had a full rail network planned nearly from the outset. By 1836, the line to Antwerp had been completed and by 1843 the two main lines (which formed a rough north-south/east-west cross) had been finished while two other mainlines (Ghent -
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
It is the capital and larges ...
-
Mouscron -
Tournai (with an international line linking Mouscron with
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...
) -
Braine-le-Comte
Braine-le-Comte (; nl, ’s-Gravenbrakel, ; wa, Brinne-e-Hinnot) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
On January 1, 2018, Braine-le-Comte had a total population of 21,649. The total area is whic ...
(on the Brussels - Mons line) -
Manage (near
La Louvière
La Louvière (; wa, El Lovire) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pierre, Houdeng-Aimeries, Hou ...
) -
Charleroi
Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. -
Namur) were added to this network and completed by 1843.
In 1843, each provincial capital (save
Arlon
Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is th ...
and
Hasselt) had a railway station.
Early Belgian railways were heavily influenced by British designs, and British technology and engineers were extremely important. The engineer
George Stephenson travelled on the first train between Brussels-Mechelen in 1835, and his company provided the first three locomotives (based on the
Rocket design) used on the line. The rapid expansion of the Belgian railways in the 1830s was one of the factors allowing Belgium to recover from an economic recession which it had experienced since the revolution and served as a major force in the Belgian
Industrial Revolution.
Expansion
In France and Germany, private companies quickly built connections to the Belgian international lines, connecting the cities of Lille, Valenciennes (in France), Cologne and Aachen (in Germany) to the Belgian network between 1842 and 1843.
Despite the fact that very few lines (47,7 km) were built by the
Belgian State Railways
The Belgian State Railways ( nl, Belgische Staatsspoorwegen; french: Chemins de fer de l'État Belge) was the original state-owned railway of Belgium. Established by an organic law of 1 May 1834, it began construction of its first line, between Br ...
between 1845 and 1870, subsequent development of the rail network was largely organized by the state rather than by private companies. Several lines were built by private companies, notably the
Namur to Liège line built in 1851, on a ninety-year
lease which would return them to the government after the period has lapsed. Many of the mainlines were operated by the Belgian State Railways. Within ten years of its first railway, Belgium had more than of railway lines, 80 stations, 143 locomotives and 25,000 pieces of
rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
. Belgium's first
telegraph line was installed in 1846 along the Brussels-Antwerp railway. Unlike canals, which made internal trade much easier than international, the railways also pushed Belgian companies to export their goods abroad. The success of the railways both intensified Belgian industrialisation and consolidated Antwerp's position as one of Europe's pre-eminent ports.
Ownership, nationalisation and electrification
The Belgian government resisted attempts by foreign companies to buy up railway assets in Belgium. In the winter of 1868, against a background of French threats to Belgium and Luxembourg under the rule of
Napoleon III, the French ''
Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est'' attempted to buy up numerous railway lines situated in southern and eastern Belgium in the
provinces of Liège,
Limburg and
Luxembourg. The Belgian state, under
Leopold II, felt that the takeover presented a military and political threat and intervened to stop the sale in 1869. A British diplomatic intervention made Napoleon back off, thus ending this
Belgian Railway Crisis.
In 1870, the Belgian state owned of rail lines, while the private enterprises owned . From 1870 to 1882, the railways were gradually
nationalised
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
. In 1912, were state property compared to of private lines. Full nationalisation was considered at the time, but was not enacted until 1926 when the
National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB-NMBS) was started, replacing the earlier ''
Chemins de fer de l'État belge''. By 1958 the network was fully state-owned.
The SNCB-NMBS first introduced electrification on the
Brussels North to
Antwerp Central line in May 1935. The system adopted was
3 kV DC
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
During the
German occupation in World War II, the SNCB-NMBS was forced to participate in the
deportation of Belgian Jews to camps in Eastern Europe as part of
The Holocaust.
Liberalisation
In 2005, the NMBS/SNCB was split up into three parts, to facilitate future
liberalisation
Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...
of railway freight and passenger services in agreement with European regulations. Several freight operators have since received access permissions for the Belgian network.
Colonial and overseas railways
Numerous railways were built in the
Belgian Congo under Belgian colonial rule which form the basis of the
railway infrastructure of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Belgian engineers and railway companies were instrumental in building railways in
Persia,
China, the
Ottoman Empire and elsewhere.
Locomotives
The first Belgian-built locomotive, named ''
Le Belge'', was built under licence by
John Cockerill & Cie. (the foremost Belgian industrial manufacturing firm at the time) according to a design licensed by
Robert Stephenson & Co. in 1835. ''Le Belge'' is considered the first locomotive produced in continental Europe. Led by firms such as Cockerill, Belgium became a major centre of locomotive design and manufacture before World War II.
Other companies included the
Société Anglo-Franco-Belge,
La Meuse and the
Ateliers de Tubize
Tubize (; nl, Tubeke ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On January 1, 2006 Tubize had a total population of 22,335. The total area is 32.66 km2 which gives a population density of ...
.
The SNCB-NMBS traditionally terms its locomotives
as classes or types.
Tramways
Belgium has a long tradition of
tramways as part of the public transport of its towns and cities. It once had the
Vicinal tramway
The National Company of Light Railways ( nl, Nationale Maatschappij Van Buurtspoorwegen, abbreviated as NMVB; french: Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Vicinaux, abbreviated as SNCV) was a state-owned transportation provider which comprised ...
, a network of trams that covered the whole nation, and whose total length was longer than the mainline railway network. Most of these tramways were closed due to the advent of cars and buses. Today there are
seven tram systems operating in the country. The
network in Brussels is one of the largest in the world and the
seacoast line is the world's longest tram line. Horse-drawn trams operated from 1869 and the first electric trams appeared in 1894.
Belgians also played a major part in exporting tram components abroad.
Baron Empain
Baron Empain is a title of nobility of the Kingdom of Belgium. The title was created in 1907 by Leopold II of Belgium for Édouard Empain, a wealthy Belgian engineer, entrepreneur, financier and industrialist, as well as an amateur Egyptologist. ...
, a Belgian industrialist and major investor in railways, gained the nickname "Tramway King" for his company's work in Russia, France, China, Egypt and the Congo and is perhaps best known for his work on the
Paris Métro.
Museums and heritage railways
*
Train World
Train World is a railway museum in Brussels, Belgium, and the official museum of the National Railway Company of Belgium. It is situated in the preserved buildings of Schaarbeek railway station and in a new shed built to its north. Although sched ...
, a railway museum in
Schaerbeek,
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 ...
opened on 25 September 2015,
*
Museum of ''Patrimoine Ferroviaire et Tourisme'' at
Saint-Ghislain
Saint-Ghislain (; pcd, Saint-Guilagne; wa, Sint-Guilin) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
On 1 January 2018 the municipality had 23,335 inhabitants. The total area is , giving a population dens ...
in
Hainaut province,
*
Trois Vallées steam railway, a heritage railway based in
Treignes in the
province of Namur
Namur (; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the West) on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and the French depar ...
.
*
Stoomtrein Maldegem - EekloStoomtrein Dendermonde - Puurs*
Brussels Tram Museum
The Brussels Tram Museum, officially ''Musée du Transport Urbain Bruxellois'' (French) or ''Museum voor het Stedelijk Vervoer te Brussel'' (Dutch), is a transport museum located in an old tram depot in the municipality of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Brus ...
, a collection of historic trams in Brussels.
*
ASVi museum, a tram museum in
Thuin
Thuin ( or ; wa, Twin) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Biercée, Biesme-sous-Thuin, Donstiennes, Gozée, Leers-et-Fosteau, Ragnies ...
, Hainaut province.
See also
*
Beijing–Hankou Railway in
China, built by Belgian capital
*
History of Belgium
The history of Belgium extends before the founding of the modern state of that name in 1830, and is intertwined with those of its neighbors: the Netherlands, Germany, France and Luxembourg. For most of its history, what is now Belgium was eit ...
*
Rail transport in Belgium
*
Vennbahn
The (, "Fen Railway") is a former railway line that was built partly across what was then German territory by the Prussian state railways. It is now entirely in Belgium, because the trackbed of the line, as well as the stations and other instal ...
*
History of rail transport in Luxembourg :''This article is part of the history of rail transport by country series''
The history of rail transport in Luxembourg began in 1846 and continues to the present day.
Origins
The first negotiations for the creation of a railway on the territor ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
*
* Michel Marin
''Histoire des Chemins de Fer en Belgique'' - an online history of rail transport in Belgium
* Guy Demeulder
''Les gares belges d'autrefois''- historic photographs of railways in Belgium
{{History of rail transport in Europe
Belgium
Rail transport in Belgium
Economic history of Belgium
Rail
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
* Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ...