The North–South Axis is a

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

tunnel in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, which crosses the city centre from north to south between

Brussels-North railway station Brussels-North railway station (; ) is one of the three major railway stations in Brussels, Belgium; the other two are Brussels Central Station, Brussels-Central and Brussels-South railway station, Brussels-South. Every regular domestic and i ...

and

Albert premetro station Albert (; ) is a '' premetro'' (underground tram) station located on the border between the municipalities of Saint-Gilles and Forest in Brussels, Belgium. The station is at the crossroad between the / on the Greater Ring and the /, between F ...

. The first section of this tunnel was opened on 4 October 1976 between Brussels-North and

Lemonnier premetro station Lemonnier () is a '' premetro'' (underground tram) station in central Brussels, Belgium, located near the crossroads between the Boulevard Maurice Lemonnier/Maurice Lemonnierlaan and the Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road). The station is ...

. It was then expanded to Albert in 1993. It is currently used by tram routes 4, 10, 51 and 82. Only routes 4 and 10 use the full tunnel. Route 51 uses it between Lemonnier and Albert and route 82 between Lemonnier and

Brussels-South railway station Brussels-South railway station, also known as Brussels-Midi railway station (; ), is a major railway station in Brussels, Belgium. Geographically, it is located in Saint-Gilles, Belgium, Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis on the border with the adjacent ...

Circuit and stations

To the north, the North–South Axis starts in the municipality of

Schaerbeek (French language, French, ; former History of Dutch orthography, Dutch spelling) or (modern Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Reg ...

near the crossroad between the / and the /. The first station in the tunnel is Brussels-North, which offers a connection with the railway station of the same name. The tunnel then crosses the municipality of

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode ( French, ) or Sint-Joost-ten-Node ( Dutch, ), often simply called Saint-Josse in French or Sint-Joost in Dutch, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part o ...

up to Rogier where it connects with the

Brussels Metro The Brussels Metro ( ; ) is a rapid transit system serving a large part of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It consists of four conventional metro lines and three '' premetro'' lines. The metro-grade lines are M1, M2, M5, and M6 wi ...

. It then enters the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels is the largest List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the ...

, and stops at De Brouckère (with again a connection with the metro), Bourse - Grand-Place/Beurs - Grote Markt, Anneessens-Fontainas and Lemonnier. At Lemonnier, a tunnel entry allows trams to enter or leave the tunnel at this point. The tunnel then crosses Saint-Gilles, stopping at

(where it connects with the train and the metro), at Porte de Hal/Hallepoort (where it connects with the metro), at Parvis de Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis Voorplein, and at Horta. At Brussels-South, another entry allows trams to leave or enter the tunnel. The last stop is Albert, and is located at the border between the municipalities of Saint-Gilles and

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

. Two different tunnel entries are then located on the / on the Greater Ring (Brussels' second ring road) and on the /.

Metro line 3

The North–South Axis will become an actual metro line, Metro line 3. In phase 1, the existing tram tunnel will be transformed into a metro line. Lemonnier will not be served by the metro. Instead, there will be a new metro station, "

Toots Thielemans Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and wh ...

", between Brussels-South station and Anneessens. The metro line should be operational by 2025. In phase 2 of the project, metro line 3 will be extended from Brussels-North station to Bordet railway station. Seven new stations and a depot will be built for this purpose. Construction should be completed by 2030. STIB M3 plan

References

{{reflist Tram transport in Brussels City of Brussels Forest, Belgium Saint-Gilles, Belgium Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Schaerbeek

Circuit and stations

Metro line 3

See also

References