The Flemish Tram and Bus Museum (Dutch: Vlaams Tram- en Autobusmuseum, abbreviated as VlaTAM) is a museum of public transport that exhibits historical trams and buses. The museum is situated in the Berchem district of Antwerp, in the former tram shed of Groenenhoek.
The museum is supported by transport company De Lijn. It mainly exhibits trams and buses of the Vicinal company, the city tram companies of Antwerp and Ghent, and the various subcontractors of Vicinal and De Lijn. Its collection includes the only surviving gyrobus in the world and the first electric tram built for Antwerp, as well as numerous other artefacts connected to the history of public transport in Belgium.
The museum reopened to the general public on 16 June 2019 after renovation of the roof of the building. The archives and the library of the museum are open by appointment.
Transport in Belgium is facilitated with well-developed road, air, rail and water networks. The rail network has 2,950 km (1,830 mi) of electrified tracks. There are 118,414 km (73,579 mi) of roads, among which there are 1,747 km (1,086 mi) of motorways, 13,892 km (8,632 mi) of main roads and 102,775 km (63,861 mi) of other paved roads. There is also a well-developed urban rail network in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and Charleroi. The ports of Antwerp and Bruges-Zeebrugge are two of the biggest seaports in Europe. Brussels Airport is Belgium's biggest airport.
Berchem is a southern district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. Berchem is located along the old Grote Steenweg that has connected Brussels to Antwerp for several centuries; the town borders the districts of Deurne, Borgerhout, Wilrijk and Antwerp and the municipality of Mortsel. Berchem itself consists of three quarters, Oud Berchem, Groenenhoek and Nieuw Kwartier.
Vlaamse Vervoersmaatschappij De Lijn, usually known as De Lijn, is a company run by the Flemish government in Belgium to provide public transportation with about 2240 buses and 399 trams. De Lijn was founded in 1991 after the public transportation companies of Antwerp and Ghent fused with the Flemish part of the NMVB.
The National Company of Light Railways was a state-owned transportation provider which comprised a system of narrow-gauge tramways or local railways in Belgium, which covered the whole country, including the countryside, and had a greater route length than the mainline railway system. They were 1,000 mmmetre gauge and included electrified city lines and rural lines using steam locomotives and diesel railcars; half the system was electrified.
The tram system in Brussels, Belgium is the 16th largest tram system in the world by route length, in 2017 providing 149.1 million journeys over routes 140.6 km in length. In 2018, the Brussels tram system consisted of 18 tram lines. Its development has demonstrated many of the quandaries that face local public transport planners. The Brussels tram system also has several interesting peculiarities: the inconsistent route pattern resulting from the closure of the interurban trams, the conflict between low-floor surface trams and high-floor underground trams, and whether the trams run on the right or the left.
The Coast Tram is a public transport service connecting the cities and towns along the Belgian coast between De Panne, near the French border, and Knokke-Heist, near the Dutch border. At 67 kilometres (42 mi) in length, it is currently the world's longest tram line in service as well as one of the few interurban tramways in the world to remain in operation. The line is built at 1,000 mmmetre gauge and fully electrified at 600 V DC.
Opérateur de transport de Wallonie (OTW), formerly Société régionale wallonne du transport (SRWT), is responsible for the supervision, strategic planning and marketing of a group of five regional public transport directorate branded as TEC or "Transport En Commun" in Wallonia, Belgium. It is primarily a bus operator, but also operates the Charleroi tram system. TEC buses and trams are distinctively painted yellow and red.
The Antwerp premetro tram route 3 is a tram route connecting Merksem with Melsele in the city of Antwerp. The route is operated by the Flemish transport company De Lijn and historically also by its Antwerp predecessor, MIVA.
The Ghent tramway network is a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Ghent, a city in the Flemish Region of Belgium, with a total of three lines. Since 1991, the network has been operated by De Lijn, the public transport entity responsible for buses and trams in Flanders.
The Antwerp tramway network is a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Antwerp, a city in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The network is operated by the Flemish region's transportation company De Lijn. As of April 2017, it featured fourteen lines, eight of which pass partially underground.
Antwerpen-Berchem is a railway station in the south of the city of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. The station opened on 1 March 1865 and currently serves railway lines 25, 27, 27A and 59.
Antwerpen-Zuid is a railway station in the south of the city of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. The old station opened on 10 July 1878 (goods) on the Lines 52 (1894) and 25A (1907). The old station building was demolished in 1965 and replaced with a stop in 1970 on the new through railway under the Scheldt river on the line 59. In 2006, the Butterfly Palace, designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership, was built on the location of the old station. It houses the Antwerp Courthouse.
Tram route 5 is a tram route in Antwerp running from Linkeroever to Wijnegem that is operated by the Flemish transport company De Lijn. The modern route was put into service on March 4, 2006, initially connecting Linkeroever with Deurne. The tram route uses the Antwerp pre-metro between the stations Van Eeden and Schijnpoort. On April 14, it was extended from the Wim Saerensplein in Deurne to the Wijnegem Fortveld terminus.
Tram route 8 is a tram route in Antwerp and nearby Wommelgem. The present day route was opened on 8 December 2019 connecting the Astrid premetro station with the Wommelgem Roundabout P+R. The route was the first to use the newly opened premetro tunnel under Borgerhout, called the Reuzenpijp, which begins at Astrid station and comes above ground just before the Muggenberg stop. It is promoted as a "fast tram" (sneltram) route, as most stations in the premetro tunnel have not (yet) been opened, allowing a 15-minute connection between the city center and the Wommelgem P+R.
Tram route 6 is a tram route in Antwerp between the Metropolis P+R in the northern Luchtbal suburb and the Olympiade P+R in the southern Kiel neighborhood, using the pre-metro network between stations Sport and Plantin. The route was officially opened on 27 October 2007 and is operated by the Flemish transport company De Lijn.
Astrid is a station in the Antwerp premetro network that was opened on April 1, 1996. The station lies directly under the Koningin Astridplein on the Gemeentestraat side. The station is one of the two premetro stations in Antwerp servicing passengers from Antwerp Central Station, the other being Diamant, which lies to the south of Astrid. It is served by tram lines 8 and 10, who both terminate in this station.
Tram route 9 is a route in the Antwerp tram network connecting the Eksterlaar neighborhood in southern Deurne with Linkeroever using the Antwerp premetro network between Plantin and Van Eeden stations. The present day route was officially opened on September 1, 2012, as part of a revision of the network map.
The Franklin Rooseveltplaats is a large square in the city of Antwerp, Belgium, placed at the crossing of the Leien and Turnhoutsebaan, and within walking distance of the Koningin Astridplein and Antwerp-Central station. The square functions primarily as the main bus station in Antwerp, which with its 28 platforms handles a large part of all bus transport in the city, as well as several tram routes.
Tram route 4 is an above ground tram route in the city of Antwerp, Belgium. The route runs between the Kioskplaats in the suburb of Hoboken in the South, and the Silsburg cemetery on the Deurne/Wommelgem border in the East. The present day itinerary is the result of the merger of the trajectory from the historic route 8 and that from the original route 4 in 2012.
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