The Belgian railway line 25 is the oldest

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 ...

. It connects Belgium's two main cities:

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 Antwerp. The section between Brussels and Mechelen was completed in on May 5, 1835 and was the first railway in Belgium and the first public passenger steam railway on the European continent. On May 3, 1836, the second section between Mechelen and Antwerp was opened. It was extended to Luchtbal in the north of Antwerp in 2007 in order to shorten the route from Amsterdam to Brussels. The total line runs . Over most of its length it is paralleled by so that four tracks are available. During business hours, line 25 serves fast trains while local trains use line 27. The line goes through the following stations: * Brussels-North * Schaarbeek * *

Vilvoorde Vilvoorde (, french: Vilvorde ; historically known as ''Filford'' in English) is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Vilvoorde proper with its two outlying quarters of Koningslo ...

* Eppegem * Weerde * Mechelen * Mechelen-Nekkerspoel *

Sint-Katelijne-Waver Sint-Katelijne-Waver (, old spelling: ''Kathelijne-Waver''; french: Wavre-Sainte-Catherine, ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver and Sint-Katelijne-Waver ...

Duffel Duffel () is a municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the town of Duffel proper. On 1 January 2020, Duffel had a total population of 17,664. The total area is 22.71 km² which gives a population den ...

Kontich Kontich (, old spelling: ''Contich'') is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Kontich proper and Waarloos. In 2021, Kontich had a total population of 21,260. The total area is 23.67&nbs ...

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th c ...

* Mortsel-Oude-God * Mortsel-Deurnesteenweg * Antwerpen-Berchem * Antwerpen-Central * Antwerpen-Luchtbal

L25N

A recent addition is line 25N, which branches off south of Mechelen to follow the E19 motorway into the

Diabolo The diabolo ( ; commonly misspelled ''diablo'') is a juggling or circus prop consisting of an axle () and two cups (hourglass/egg timer shaped) or discs derived from the Chinese yo-yo. This object is spun using a string attached to two hand ...

to Brussels National Airport. As of 2019, works are underway to extend this line 25N through the Mechelen station, adding two platforms, to rejoin the "regular" line 25 North of Nekkerspoel station.Transformatie Mechelse stationsomgeving definitief van start
7 januari 2013, Knack L25N has electrification, and allows speeds up to .

References

Local language network overview Railway lines in Belgium, 25 25 Rail transport in Antwerp Mechelen Railway lines opened in 1835 Standard gauge railways in Belgium {{Europe-rail-transport-stub