The HSL 2 (french: Ligne à Grande Vitesse (LGV) 2, nl, Hogesnelheidslijn 2, en, High-Speed Line 2) is a
Belgian high-speed rail line between
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 ...
and
Ans
Ans or ANS or ''variation'', may refer to:
Places
* Ans, Belgium, a municipality in Belgium
* Ans, Denmark, a village in Denmark
* Angus, Scotland, UK; a council area by its Chapman code
* Ainsdale railway station, England, UK (by station code ...
(near
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 ...
) and is long, all of it on dedicated high-speed tracks, which began service on 15 December 2002. As part of the Belgian railway network, it is owned, technically operated and maintained by
Infrabel
Infrabel is a Belgian government-owned public limited company. It builds, owns, maintains and upgrades the Belgian railway network, makes its capacity available to railway operator companies, and handles train traffic control.
Infrabel was creat ...
.
Since the extension to the German border was completed (the
HSL 3), the fastest journey time between
Brussels South and
Cologne Central Station
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...
is 1 hour and 47 minutes. HSL 2 is used by
Thalys and
ICE
Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...
trains as well as fast internal
Belgian Railways InterCity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
services.
Route
From Brussels South, trains travel northwards over
Line 0 through
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
stations. At
Schaarbeek the route splits in two; northward bound trains continue over
line 25N,
line 25,
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, and
HSL 4 to the Dutch border, eastward bound trains continue over
line 36N, line 2 and
line 36 to
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 ...
and from there over
line 37 and
HSL 3 and again line 37 to the German border. Between Schaarbeek and
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 ...
there are four tracks; the two outer tracks, line 36, permit travel at . The two central tracks, line 36N, were planned for direct service and trainsets equipped with
ETCS 1
The European Train Control System (ETCS) is the Railway signalling, signalling and control component of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). It is a replacement for legacy train protection systems and designed to replace the ...
are now allowed to travel at .
At Leuven, trains pass through the existing station at . Just outside, HSL 2 proper commences with a speed initially limited to . After the
Bierbeek tunnel (758 m), maximum speed is increased to alongside the
E40 motorway. Over the last few kilometers, curbing away from the E40, speed is limited to . Quitting HSL 2, trains run to Ans station at . Between
Ans
Ans or ANS or ''variation'', may refer to:
Places
* Ans, Belgium, a municipality in Belgium
* Ans, Denmark, a village in Denmark
* Angus, Scotland, UK; a council area by its Chapman code
* Ainsdale railway station, England, UK (by station code ...
and
Liège-Guillemins station, passenger trains run on the modernised line 36 at a speed of (downwards to Liège) or (EMUs upwards to Ans).
Other
HSL 2 is used by
Thalys PBKA sets,
ICE
Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...
3M EMU
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...
s on international services, and domestic InterCity services run by sets of
Class 18 or
Class 13 locomotives with
I6,
I10 or (mostly)
I11 carriages. Trains with the new
SNCB Class 18 locomotives appeared on the line. probably in 2010. The
DB Velaro D (BR407) was planned to use the route on its way to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, however these plans have since been shelved due to technical and financial problems, and it is unknown if the units will find use on the current ICE International services from Brussels to Germany.
Maintenance bases for the line are situated at
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 ...
and
Ans
Ans or ANS or ''variation'', may refer to:
Places
* Ans, Belgium, a municipality in Belgium
* Ans, Denmark, a village in Denmark
* Angus, Scotland, UK; a council area by its Chapman code
* Ainsdale railway station, England, UK (by station code ...
.
The Belgian cabin signaling system
TBL 2 has been installed on the HSL 2. It is operated from Block 12 in Brussels.
HSL 2 is
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
,
double track
A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track.
Overview
In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...
,
electrified at
25 kV, 50 Hz AC.
See also
*
High-speed rail in Belgium
*
Rail transport in Belgium
References
External links
Belrail: info on TBL 2 (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsl 2
High-speed railway lines in Belgium
Railway lines opened in 2002
Standard gauge railways in Belgium
2002 establishments in Belgium
lb:LGV Bréissel - Däitsch Grenz