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Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is also one of the official capitals of the European Union with most institutions having their headquarters here. The city (about 1 million inh.) is right in the centre of the country and bilingual: French and Dutch, and therefore many station names are also bilingual.

The Brussels Métro started as a pré-métro system which could be compared to German Stadtbahn systems (Cologne, Stuttgart, Essen, Hannover, etc.) with important sections of underground tunnels used by various tram routes. In 1969, the first tram tunnel along today's line 1 was opened between Schuman and De Brouckère, and in 1970 today's line 2 between Madou and Porte de Namur. Today lines 1, 2, 5 and 6 are operated as full metro lines, whereas the north-south city tunnel and the outer ring tunnel in the east are still used by trams stopping at low-level platforms.

In Sept. 2003, a 2.7 km extension of Line 1B from Bizet to Erasme Hospital opened with 4 new stations: La Roue/Het Rad, CERIA/COOVI, Eddy Merckx and Erasme/Erasmus. The last 800 m and Erasme/Erasmus station are on the surface. All stations have an island platform which is directly accessible from street level without a mezzanine.

On 4 April 2009, the ring line was finally completed with the opening of the section between Delacroix and Gare de l'Ouest (Weststation). At the same time the existing network was re-arranged, introducing lines 5 and 6:

Line 1: Gare de l'Ouest - Stockel

Line 2: Elisabeth* - Simonis: actually only reinforcing line 6

Line 5: Erasme - Herrmann-Debroux

Line 6: Roi Baudouin - Simonis* - Gare de l'Ouest - Gare du Midi - Elisabeth*

The Brussels Metro is operated by STIB/MIVB (Societé des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles) also responsible for a tram network 133 km long (12 km of which are in tunnels).

* To avoid confusion, the bi-level station Simonis/Elisabeth was given separate names in Nov. 2013; originally, both levels were just called 'Simonis', then in 2009, the upper (north-south) level received the appendage 'Leopold II', while the lower level, terminus for lines 2 and 6, was complemented with 'Elisabeth'.

Line 1/5 began as a full metro line in 1976 and grew steadily at both ends with two branches on each side. Until 4 April 2009 it was operated as lines 1A (Herrmann-Debroux - Roi Baudouin) and 1B (Erasme - Stockel), with line 1A trains reversing at Beekkant and continuing on the left side towards Roi Baudouin.

20 Sep 1976: De Brouckère - Beaulieu and Tomberg
13 Apr 1977: De Brouckère - Sainte-Catherine
17 Jun 1977: Beaulieu - Demey
08 May 1981: Sainte-Catherine - Beekkant
07 May 1982: Tomberg - Alma
06 Oct 1982: Beekkant - Saint-Guidon and Beekkant - Bockstael
23 Mar 1985: Demey - Herrmann Debroux
10 May 1985: Bockstael - Heysel
05 Jul 1985: Saint-Guidon - Veeweyde
31 Aug 1988: Alma - Stockel
10 Jan 1992: Veeweyde - Bizet
25 Aug 1998: Heysel station put underground and line 1A extended to Roi Baudouin
15 Sep 2003: Bizet - Erasme

Line 2/6 grew along the inner ring road as a pré-métro line until 1988, when it was eventually adapted for full metro operation (until 4/4/2009 line 2). Line 2/6 is operated on the left side between Clemenceau and Roi Baudouin.

02 Oct 1988: Elisabeth (ex Simonis/lower level) - Gare du Midi
18 Jun 1993: Gare du Midi - Clemenceau
04 Sept 2006: Clemenceau - Delacroix
04 April 2009: Delacroix - Gare de l'Ouest - Beekkant - (Roi Baudouin)

The North-South Prémétro (shown as Line 3 on older maps) went underground in 1976 between Gare du Nord and Lemonnier; extended further to Albert in Dec. 1993 and now operated as a tram tunnel shared by line 3 and 4, and partly by line 51. Other lines use short sections of the tunnel.

The Outer Ringroad Prémétro Line (on older maps Line 5), which crosses line 1 at Montgomery, was opened between 1972 (Diamant) and 1975. It is served by lines 7 (ex 23 & 24) and 25.

 Projects

The Premetro north-south tunnel is finally being upgraded to full metro operation (metro line 3) and extented north to Bordet. The conversion will include the closure of the present Lemonnier underground tram stop, which is being replaced by a new metro station called Toots Thielemans. Major reconstruction is also required at Albert, the southern terminus. In a later stage, a southern extension may follow from Albert to Uccle Calevoet, replacing tram line 51.

[M3 - Project Website]

2004 © Robert Schwandl

Robert Schwandl:

TRAM ATLAS BENELUX

Belgium - Netherlands - Luxembourg

- R. Schwandl Verlag, 02/2020, ISBN 978-3936573596

More info