french: Société nationale des chemins de fer belges
german: Nationale Gesellschaft der Belgischen Eisenbahnen
, type =
Statutory corporation
A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...
, industry = Rail Transport
, foundation = 1926
, founder =
Government of Belgium
The Federal Government of Belgium ( nl, Federale regering, french: Gouvernement fédéral, german: Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-mini ...
, location = Avenue de la Porte de Hal/Hallepoortlaan 40
, location_city = 1060
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 ...
, key_people =
, products = Rail Transport
, revenue = €2.296.6
billion
Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions:
*1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English.
* 1,000,000,000,000, i. ...
(2012)
, operating_income = €6.306,5
million
One million (1,000,000), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the au ...
(2012)
, net_income = € -152.3
million
One million (1,000,000), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the au ...
(2012)
, num_employees = 34,000 (2016)
, parent =
, subsid =
BeNe Rail EurogareTrain World (BE)
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 ...
SNCB YPTO
french: Société nationale des chemins de fer belgesgerman: Nationale Gesellschaft der Belgischen Eisenbahnen
, type = Statutory corporation
, industry = Rail Transport
, foundation = 1926
, founder = Government o ...
, location_country =
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 ...
, homepage =
, foot_notes =
The National Railway Company of Belgium ( nl, Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen, or NMBS;
french: Société nationale des chemins de fer belges, or SNCB; german: Nationale Gesellschaft der Belgischen Eisenbahnen) is the national
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
company of
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 ...
. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by
Henry van de Velde
Henry Clemens van de Velde (; 3 April 1863 – 15 October 1957) was a Belgian painter, architect, interior designer, and art theorist. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, he is considered one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium ...
consists of the linguistically neutral letter B in a horizontal oval.
History
NMBS/SNCB is an autonomous government company, formed in 1926 as successor to 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 Bru ...
. In 2005, the company was split up into three parts:
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 ...
, which manages the railway infrastructure, network operations and network access, the public railway operator NMBS/SNCB itself to manage the freight (B-Cargo) and passenger services, and NMBS/SNCB-Holding, which owns both public companies and supervises the collaboration between them. Essentially, this was a move 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. In February 2011,
NMBS/SNCB Logistics began operating as a separate business.
Faced with rising losses, in June 2012, the Belgian transport minister announced further reform: NMBS/SNCB Holding would be split up, so NMBS/SNCB (the train operator) would be separate from Infrabel (the infrastructure owner). Unions oppose the reform.
NMBS/SNCB-Holding was merged into SNCB in 2014 in order to simplify the structure of the Belgian railways.
NMBS/SNCB holds a Royal Warrant from the Court of Belgium.
Operations
![Belgium railroad map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Belgium_railroad_map.svg)
In 2008 NMBS/SNCB carried 207 million passengers a total of 8,676 million
passenger-kilometre
The units of measurement in transportation describes the unit of measurement used to express various transportation quantities, as used in statistics, planning, and their related applications.
Transportation quantity
The currently popular units ...
s over a network of 3,536 kilometres (of which 2,950 km are
electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
, mainly at 3000 V
DC and 351 km at 25 kV 50 Hz
AC).
In 2017, that number rose to 230 million passengers carried, and Belgium has a rail network of 3,602 km of main railway lines (or 6,399 km of mainline tracks).
The network currently includes four high speed lines suitable for traffic:
HSL 1
The HSL 1 (french: Ligne à Grande Vitesse (LGV) 1, nl, Hogesnelheidslijn 1, en, High-Speed Line 1) is a high-speed rail line which connects Brussels, Belgium, with the LGV Nord at the Belgium–France border. It is long with of dedicated hig ...
runs from just south 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 ...
to the French border, where it continues to a triangular junction with
LGV Nord
The Ligne à Grande Vitesse Nord (North High-Speed Line), typically shortened to LGV Nord, is a French -long high-speed rail line, opened in 1993, that connects Paris to the Belgian border and the Channel Tunnel via Lille.
With a maximum speed ...
for and (and London beyond that),
HSL 2
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 and Ans (near Liège) and is long, all of it on dedicated high-speed tracks, which began ser ...
runs from to and onward to ,
HSL 3
The HSL 3 (french: Ligne à Grande Vitesse (LGV) 3, nl, Hogesnelheidslijn 3, en, High-Speed Line 3) is a Belgian high-speed rail line. It connects Liège to the German border near Aachen. The high-speed track length is .
The line was technic ...
runs from Liège to the German border near
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- ...
and
HSL 4
The HSL 4 ( nl, Hogesnelheidslijn 4, french: Ligne à Grande Vitesse 4, en, High-Speed Line 4) is a Belgian high-speed rail line part of the 87 kilometres (54 miles) axis which connects Antwerp to the Dutch border. It is 40 kilometres l ...
connects with
HSL-Zuid
The HSL-Zuid ( nl, Hogesnelheidslijn Zuid, en, High-speed Line South), is a 125 kilometre-long (78 miles) Dutch high-speed railway line running between the Amsterdam metropolitan area and the Belgian border, with a branch to Breda, North ...
in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
to allow services to run from to .
National enforcement body
Sometimes passengers are not satisfied with the answer of railway companies or passengers do not receive any answer in one month, in which case they can seek the assistance of the
Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport
Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport (french: Service public fédéral Mobilité et Transports, nl, Federale Overheidsdienst Mobiliteit en Vervoer, german: Föderaler Öffentlicher Dienst Mobilität und Transportwesen), is a Federal Publi ...
.
Gallery
File:NMBS MS08 08004, Antwerpen Centraal.JPG, NMBS/SNCB MS08/AM08 Desiro train in Antwerp Central Railway Station
File:M7 Trein.jpg, NMBS/SNCB M7 double-decker train
File:M6 Rail Car R01 (cropped).jpg, NMBS/SNCB M6 double-decker train
File:Luik Guillemins 2016 2.jpg, Liège-Guillemins railway station
Liège-Guillemins railway station (french: Gare de Liège-Guillemins, nl, Station Luik-Guillemins, IATA code: XHN), officially Liège-Guillemins, is the main station in Liège, Belgium. It is one of the most important hubs in the country and i ...
File:Station Brussel-Centraal Loketten.jpg, Brussels Central Railway Station's main hall
File:Leuven station AM08 2014.jpg, NMBS/SNCB MS08/AM08 Desiro train in Leuven Railway Station
Leuven railway station ( nl, Station Leuven, french: Gare de Louvain), officially Leuven, is the main railway station in Leuven, Flemish Brabant, Belgium. The station is operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB) and is loca ...
File:Station Wezemaal 2020.jpg, Wezemaal station in 2020 before the renovation works, with old station sign
File:NMBS totempaal in station Kiewit 2020.jpg, NMBS/SNCB totem pole in station Kiewit in 2020
File:Station Kiewit met trein 2020.jpg, NMBS/SNCB MS08/AM08 Desiro train in Kiewit
File:Station Begijnendijk 2020.jpg, Station Begijnendijk in 2020
File:Station Bouwel 2020.jpg, Station Bouwel with NMBS/SNCB logo with level crossing signaling
File:NMBS SNCB logo 3.jpg, NMBS/SNCB Logo in Brussels-North station
See also
*
Eurostar
Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated sep ...
- NMBS/SNCB holds a 5% stake
*
History of rail transport in Belgium
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 and Mechelen ...
*
List of railway lines in Belgium
*
List of SNCB/NMBS classes
This is a list of NMBS/SNCB locomotive classes, classes of locomotive operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium:
Multi-system electric locomotives
Single-system electric locomotives
Diesel locomotives
The class 77 are used bot ...
*
Rail transport in Belgium
Belgium has an extensive rail network. It is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Belgium is 88.
History
On May 5, 1835, the first railway in continental Europe opened between Brussels-Groendreef/All ...
*
Thalys
Thalys (French: ) is a French-Belgian high-speed rail, high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Gare du Nord, Paris and Brussels-South railway station, Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar tr ...
*
Transportation in Belgium
Transport in Belgium is facilitated with well-developed road, air, rail and water networks. The rail network has of electrified tracks. There are of roads, among which there are of motorways, of main roads and of other paved roads. There is ...
Notes
References
External links
Bueker.net – Map of the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg rail networksSNCB website*List of stations:
Liste des gares SNCB -
Lijst van NMBS-stations Collection of Google Earth locations of SNCB stations(require
Google Earth software from the Google Earth Community forum.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Railway Company of Belgium
Railway companies of Belgium
Eurostar
Railteam
Belgian companies established in 1926
Railway companies established in 1926
Belgian brands
Government-owned companies of Belgium
Government agencies established in 1926
Government-owned railway companies