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Belgium rail ideas
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I've actually just come back from Brussels. I had loco hauled stock on my train from Charleroi to Brussels (it carried on to Antwerp), and from Brussels to Brussels Airport (I think it might have come from Oostende). There's also plenty of late 70s trams (I found them on route 51 from Brussels South station to Heysel, but there may be others). The Brussels Metro has plenty of stock dating from the 70s - 80s - I found that line 6 was a good place to find those.
Most intercity services are loco-hauled, for example all the trains on Oostende-Eupen and Brussels-Luxemburg. You can find the planned train types on:
There are also some older trains from the 60s and 70s : am64-74, am75 and m4 and m5 coaches.
Accueil - Onthaal - Homepage
composition des trains en Belgique et au Luxembourg, treinopstellingen in België en Luxemburg, train compositions in Belgium and Luxemburg
beluxtrains.net
FlyingPotato
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Belgium runs some compartment coaches as well but these are usually on peak trains - usually designated as a P Train
I went on a compartment train between Brussels Nord and Lokeren - I don't know if it still runs as compartment as it was last year.
But either way I'll give you the route
Schaerbeek to Sint Niklass:
17:12 - 18:39
All in all though the P trains are the best to get older stock
If you are interested in least used station, the Least used stations in Flanders is Aalst Kerrebrock (poor spelling). This is to the best of my knowledge and could be wrong now
I went on a compartment train between Brussels Nord and Lokeren - I don't know if it still runs as compartment as it was last year.
But either way I'll give you the route
Schaerbeek to Sint Niklass:
17:12 - 18:39
All in all though the P trains are the best to get older stock
If you are interested in least used station, the Least used stations in Flanders is Aalst Kerrebrock (poor spelling). This is to the best of my knowledge and could be wrong now
You can find the compartment coaches usually on P8002, P8006 and P8014 which all depart between 16:00 and 18:00 in Schaarbeek and sometimes on the train to Luxemburg. The least used station in Belgium is Hourpes with 7 people a day, but still a train an hour in each direction.
FlyingPotato
Member
A scenic route would be the train from Namur to Dinant next to the River Muese
duesselmartin
Established Member
I can second that. Possibly the nicest route in Belgium.
The line from Liege to Eupen is also spectacular. Lots of tunnels and bridges as it crosses the river many times.
This website is very useful.
It shows the booked rolling stock for every train across the network. Click on the choose rolling stock dropdown menu. The class 21 and 27 locos, along with the M4 hauled stock are all going in the bin soon. There are still some of the once numerous two car EMUs, they are AM64/74 on the menu. Once you have selected a rolling stock type, it lists all the trains by train number booked for that type. Click on the train number, you will see origin and destination along with the calling pattern. Note that class 21 and 27 interwork randomly. There are two sets of M4 stock top and tail with class 27s on the Intercity route from Liege to Quievrain via Leuven and Brussel. Another good route is Liege to Brussel via Namur.
There are also hundreds of trains hauled by the modern class 18 and 19, usually on double decker M6 or M7 stock.
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Getting the train to Roosendaal if you get one of the locals from Antwerp. Nice voltage change at the border. lots of loud circuit breaker bangs and clatters. Antwerpen Centraal is a nice station.
someone will mention the Kustram eventually...
the yard at Scaerbeek is usually full of interesting stuff.
Beware, everywhere has 2 names. but some have an English name too. So there is Antwerp (English), Antwerpen (Flemish), Anvers (French)
someone will mention the Kustram eventually...
the yard at Scaerbeek is usually full of interesting stuff.
Beware, everywhere has 2 names. but some have an English name too. So there is Antwerp (English), Antwerpen (Flemish), Anvers (French)
FlyingPotato
Member
A lot of the Flemish lines are quite boring if I'm honest, all very flat.
I'd also not bother paying for first class for the majority of trains, it's not worth it
I'd also not bother paying for first class for the majority of trains, it's not worth it
The double decker hauled(/pushed) stock is rather nice.
Last summer I saw quite a few trains with a mix of single and double decker coaches which is something of a novelty.
The route to Antwerp is not particularly scenic but Antwerp Centraal is quite something and well worth seeing - built as an extremely grand terminus station, but then hollowed out to add two levels of track underneath.
Get off the stop before (Berchem) and unless it's changed since last year you can get a PCC tram to just outside Central - they take contactless cards in payment.
I rather like the Belgian railways and in many ways they are a huge contrast to the Netherlands. They even still have ticket offices!
There's also a helpful scheme where tickets to urban areas are sold to a zone rather than a single station, allowing unlimited rail use within the area. A bit like including a London Travelcard with all tickets to London, albeit for rail only and covering a much smaller area. But if you want to try a brief trip on different types of rolling stock it's quite handy.
Last summer I saw quite a few trains with a mix of single and double decker coaches which is something of a novelty.
The route to Antwerp is not particularly scenic but Antwerp Centraal is quite something and well worth seeing - built as an extremely grand terminus station, but then hollowed out to add two levels of track underneath.
Get off the stop before (Berchem) and unless it's changed since last year you can get a PCC tram to just outside Central - they take contactless cards in payment.
I rather like the Belgian railways and in many ways they are a huge contrast to the Netherlands. They even still have ticket offices!
There's also a helpful scheme where tickets to urban areas are sold to a zone rather than a single station, allowing unlimited rail use within the area. A bit like including a London Travelcard with all tickets to London, albeit for rail only and covering a much smaller area. But if you want to try a brief trip on different types of rolling stock it's quite handy.
And continuing from Verviers to Aachen. In my days of Belgian train travel the Brussel-Koln still went that way.
Namur to Luxembourg through the Ardennes is also good.
Fireless
Member
The 5000 train series (Aachen-Spa) is still a safe place (IIRC until December 2023) for the last class 66 and 70JH EMUs (the last "classic" EMUs with camshaft control gear and the oldest rolling stock still in regular service) and also relatively scenic.
German names also exist (Brüssel, Lüttich, etc.), but you'll hardly see them. In Brussels, you'll normally see French here and Dutch there, depending where you look.
Well, not really. Since this week, the oldest passenger stock visible in Belgium are the two sleeping cars included in the consist of the European Sleeper Brussels - Amsterdam - Berlin. They are wagons lits type P, which were built in 1955.
Also, Infrabel still uses a few diesels series 55, and several rebuilt series 62, which are also older than AM66. The 62s should last till around 2030.
Re
On a recent visit I travelled on an Intercity train formed of four types of rolling stock. I10 and I11 single deckers with M6 and M7 double deckers. All through wired for push pull working so the locos at both ends of the train were powering. The M4 stock is wired for push pull working too. The M6 driving trailers can work with class 27 or the newer class 18 and 19.
There are no advanced fares in Belgium for domestic trains. You can buy a ticket for any date, the price will be the same, even if boarding in the next 10 minutes... WWW.SNCB.BE will give you the prices. It's quite moderate compared with neighbor countries.
No special wiring required. The remote control signals are time-division multiplexed and sent over the standard UIC cable (used for various things like public adress) present on all cars since the 80ies. Any car fitted with that cable can be inserted in a push-pull or top'n tail (or even loco in the middle) consist. Only needs two compatible locs or a driving trailer compatible with the loco at the other end.
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Is that the BR system as used on the Scotrail class 47/7s and also on the west coast line? Or different?
No idea. But belgian railways heavily suffers from the "not invented here" syndrome...
43096
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The system used on the 47/7s was different to that used on the electric loco fleet. I’d be amazed if the Belgian system was identical.
But possibly used the same cables to communicate signals via a different protocol.
43096
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Yes: both BR systems used the RCH jumper cables.
MadMarsupial
Member
You can buy a Standard Multi ticket for 95 Euro. This gives you ten single tickets between any two stations in Belgium. You just write in the names of the stations before boarding - ideal if you change your mind about where to go next. Basic idea is on this link in English but the more detailed instructions are only in French or Dutch. https://www.belgiantrain.be/en/tickets-and-railcards/railpass
I sampled a few routes of the Belgian Rail Network.
This included Brussels to Brugge via Ghent
Brugge to Brussels via Kortrijk
Brussels to Charleroi
There appeared to work on going on the line to Charleroi.
I never managed to get on a regular single decker loco hauled carriage.
This included Brussels to Brugge via Ghent
Brugge to Brussels via Kortrijk
Brussels to Charleroi
There appeared to work on going on the line to Charleroi.
I never managed to get on a regular single decker loco hauled carriage.
FlyingPotato
Member
What was the stock and destination of the via Ghent train
It was Blakenberge and it was one of them funny looking EMUS with a rubber like surround.
Line 6 was the line I used to my hotel out near Heysel.
FlyingPotato
Member
Was it on the weekend
As the blankenberge routes are usually local hauled m6s in my experience
Not any more I'm afraid. Mainly M7 power cars now but some are still booked for AM96 units.
You'll still find them on Eupen-Oostende. Currently often 6 M7, 3 I11 and 1 I10.
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