The Hasselt – Maastricht tramway (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''Sneltram Hasselt - Maastricht'') was a proposed fast tram system linking Hasselt, Belgian province of Limburg and

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

, Dutch province of Limburg. The project was part of the ''Spartacusplan'' of Belgian Limburg, proposed by the Belgian transport company

De Lijn Vlaamse Vervoersmaatschappij De Lijn (English: Flemish transport company ''De Lijn''), usually known as De Lijn (, "The Line"), is a company run by the Flemish government in Belgium to provide public transportation with about 2240 buses and 399 tr ...

, with the aim of improving the province's transport links. The tramway's opening was originally scheduled for 2017, then postponed until 2025. It was finally cancelled on 10 June 2022 in favour of an electric "trambus". One factor in the project's cancellation was that in order for the tram to reach Maastricht station, the

Sint Servaasbrug Sint Servaasbrug (or the St. Servatius Bridge) is an arched stone footbridge across the river Meuse in Maastricht, Netherlands. It is named after Saint Servatius, the first bishop of Maastricht, and (despite being largely rebuilt after World War ...

over the Maas would have needed to be strengthened. The line would therefore have had to terminate at ''Maastricht Mosae Forum''. Between the two towns, the planned tramway was to follow the course of a disused railway line. It would have improved links in a northeasterly direction between Maastricht and the southern part of the Dutch Limburg province and Antwerp, as currently the only rail service from the Dutch province to Belgium runs south to Liège-Guillemins.

Proposed tram stops

Due to the weakness of the Sint Servaasbrug, the original plan to have the line terminate at

Maastricht railway station Maastricht railway station ( nl, Station Maastricht ; li, Statie Mestreech ) is located in Maastricht in Limburg, Netherlands. It is the main railway station in Limburg's capital city. It is the southern terminus of the –Maastricht intercity ser ...

was abandoned. Below is the list of future tram stops, as planning stood in September 2020.

References

External links

Official site of the project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasselt - Maastricht tramway Proposed public transport in Belgium Proposed rail infrastructure in the Netherlands Tram transport in Belgium Light rail in the Netherlands