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Last week, an exposition opened at Train World (the Belgian national railway museum) about the royal trains. For the first time, visitors are allowed access to some of the royal coaches that were once used by Leopold II, Albert I and other kings. Documents and objects from the archives of the...

On 28 march 2022, electric trains started running on the 12,5 km, single track, freight-only line between Bilzen and Genk-Goederen. This means that electric trains to (and from) the east can use a shorter route by avoiding the very busy station at Hasselt. The line was completely modernized...

Since yesterday (14/07), exceptional rainfall has caused immense flooding in eastern and southern Belgium. During the afternoon, mudslides and flooding closed followong lines: - L3 Liège - Hergenrath HSL - L24 Glons - Montzen - Aachen West (freight line) - L37 Liège - Aachen - L40 Liège - Visé -...

Dutch national operator ordered 99 "new generation" EMU's for Intercity services - 20 of them will be adapted to run in Belgium. They will replace the current sets on the Amsterdam - Brussels "Benelux" service. The first of these (NS 3301) is in Belgium this week for homologation. This takes...

Today (14.06) electric trains started to run on the 33 km Mol - Hamont line. However, due to delays with the homologation of the new M7 sets, about 50% of the services will continue with DMU's. Electric services are: Antwerpen - Hamont: IC's 4308, 4309, 4312, 4313, 4316, 4317, 4320, 4321 Hamont...

Belgian infrastructure manager Infrabel has installed the first "green" sleepers last weekend during trackwork at Puurs on the Mechelen - Sint-Niklaas line: https://www.world-today-news.com/infrabel-installs-first-green-sleepers/ Interestingly, on the TV-news it was shown that this concrete...

Not yet mentioned: the elektrified Feldbach - Bad Gleichenberg branch in Austria will close on december 13. The line opened in 1931 and is operated by local operator Steiermäkische Landesbahn (StLB). Unfortunately, the only surprise is that this line managed to survive until now. The distance...

Belgian rail freight operator Lineas honors the people who work in essential sectors during the present corona-crisis. The company presented TRAXX-locomotive 186 258 in a new design to thank people working in healthcare, supermarkets, pharmacies and transportation...

Severe restrictions are applied in Belgium since this week in an attempt to slow down the spreading of the Corona virus. As a result, SNCB will introduce an emergency timetable from monday 23 march. A basic service will run on main lines, usually one train every hour. Services will end between...

Paul Delvaux (1897 - 1994) was a Belgian painter who also loved railways. Trains and stations are common features in his work. Today, an exposition of his work opened in the "Train World" railway museum in Brussels. SNCB EMU 08178 is decorated for the occasion. Yesterday, 21/10, a preview was...

On june 5, a woman was filmed when she tried to cross the Brussels - Gent mainline at Lede at a crossing that is temporarily closed due to road work. She removed some of the barriers and tried to cross the track, only to become stuck. Fortunately, traffic control was informed very fast and all...

This summer, the last gauntlet track on the Belgian network will be replaced by two switches. It is used to pass the tunnel south of Jamioulx station, on the Charleroi - Couvin line. In the past, there were at least to other places in Belgium where a gauntlet track could be found: - the tunnel...

Today, BLS-Cargo announced they took over Crossrail - the Belgian freight operator, not the new tunnel in London ;)! The press release (in German) can be found here...

The last semaphore signals on the national network will be replaced in may. Since 2002, only two signals remained at Tertre, on the freight-only branch from Saint-Ghislain (near Mons). There are two or three trains daily to serve some local chemical plants. The pictures were taken on 18-04-2018...

A broken water mains caused chaos in Brussels yesterday, september 7. A large sinkhole appeared in the Chaussée de Louvain and several houses had to be evacuated. The railway tunnel between Brussels North and Brussels Schuman was flooded. Infrabel estimates that it will take a week to repair the...

Yesterday, Belgian freight operator SNCB-Logistics announced that the company has a new name: Lineas. All locomotives and cars will be rebranded. https://lineas.net/en/news/blogistics-becomes-lineas

At 13.20 this afternoon, a train derailed when leaving the station of Leuven. One coach of EMU 326 is lying on its side. Police confirms one passanger deceased and 19 injurered. A first press report (in Dutch) can be found here: http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/binnenland/1.2895151 Updates...

At Train World in Schaarbeek (Brussels) there is an exposition about the use of trains in the adventures of Tintin, Belgium's most iconic comic book hero. This expo is open until 16.04.2017. During this event, SNCB EMU 08172 will be decorated with drawings from the first album: 'Tintin in the...

Since 11 december, all trains operating in Belgium are required to have the TBL1+ security system. As Fret-SNCF did not want to install this in older classes, there are now no more services for classes BB36000 en BB67400 in Belgium. All trains are now hauled by class 186 TRAXX leased from Akiem...