Infrabel was created on 1 January 2005 from the split of the once unitary National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB/NMBS). By 31 December 2009, it had 12,875 employees, while the CEO was Benoît Gilson, who succeeded the long-serving Luc Lallemand[fr; nl] in that role in 2020. Between its creation in 2005 up until 31 December 2013, 93.6% of stock was owned by SNCB-Holding, representing 20% of the voting rights minus one vote; the remainder, 80% of the voting rights (+ one vote) and 6.4% of stock had been controlled directly by the Belgian state, represented by the minister of the Civil Service and is a Public Companies and by the State Secretary for Mobility. EBITDA for fiscal year 2009 amounted to €55.01 million, EBT to €69.61 million. The balance sheet total as of 31 December 2009 was €13.8 billion.
By 31 December 2009, Infrabel oversaw 3,578 kilometres of railway lines, 12,218 switches, 1,913 level crossings (partly the road-side signalling), 223 railway signalling cabins, one traffic control centre, four workshops, 7,163 railway structures, and 339 unmanned stops. Of the 11 railway undertakings certified to operation on the Belgian railway network, six customers effectively drove trains during 2009: National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB), Crossrail Benelux, Veolia Cargo Nederland BV, SNCF Fret, TrainsporT AG and ERS Railways BV. In the following year, 492 freight and 4,132 passenger train paths per day were delivered by Infrabel.[1] Since 1 January 2014, Infrabel has been an Autonomous Public Company and is no longer owned by SNCB-Holding.[2] The company has two direct subsidiaries: TUC Rail NV/SA and the Brussels Creosote Centre (Creosoteer Centrum Van Brussel/Chantier de Creosotage de Bruxelles NV/SA). Additionally, Infrabel is a partner in the EuroCarex high-speed railway freight project.
History
During the early to mid 2000s, the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB/NMBS) was substantially reorganised, partially in order to comply with relevant legislation set out by the European Union; the railway infrastructure management company Infrabel was created in January 2005 as one of several new railway companies established at this time.[3] SNCB continued to exist as an operator of both passenger and freight trains upon the Belgian railway network, while Infrabel took on the construction, modernisation, maintenance, traffic management, and safe operation of the Belgium rail infrastructure. In addition to regular operations, the new entity was quick to involve itself in multiple public–private partnerships to bring about a variety of improvements.[3] One early focus area for investment by Infrabel was the various ports across Belgium, such works were largely focused on electrification, new signalling systems, and the installation of additional tracks to better facilitate intermodal freight movements.[4]
Between 2005 and 2007, the organisation's first two years of operations, Infrabel allocated 27 percent of its €3.314 billion investment budget into maintenance activities, while 20 percent was expended on infrastructure expansion. Modernisation efforts at this time included the renovation of existing signal boxes as well as ten separate major projects primarily aimed at capacity expansion.[5] During late 2006, a new communication centre for Belgium's railways, simply referred to as Traffic Control, came into operation, integrating the former national and regional dispatching centres to guide trains through all lines of the Belgian rail network in real time; this involved the phased replacement of aging electromechanical apparatus with computer-controlled EBP-PLP (Elektronische Bedieningspost – Poste à Logique programmée) counterparts that has allowed for a drastic reduction in the number of signal boxes required, from 368 to 31 modern control centres.[6]
In 2010, Infrabel CEO Luc Lallemand publicly voiced his support of new railway operations legislation produced by the European Commission that, amongst other aspects, sought to protect and bolster the independence of rail infrastructure companies from train operators, promote competitiveness, and address insufficient implementation of existing directives.[7] Around this time, the company was stating its corporate strategy to be client-focused and looking towards an increasingly liberalised European railway market; specifically, that its investment in capacity expansion was typically targeted towards areas that clients sought to run additional services. By 2011, international passenger operators on the Belgian railway network included Eurostar, Thalys, and ICE, the latter being operated under licence from SNCB; furthermore, in excess of 200 private companies were using the network to move freight, much of which was going between major logistical hubs at ports.[8]
One of Infrabel's earliest investment programmes was the Diabolo project, which involved the construction of a direct underground rail link to Brussels Airport.[3][9] Started in September 2007, the new line, which was built by the private public partnership company Northern Diabolo NV, was completed in June 2012 at a reported cost of €540 million; the most challenging component of the project was the boring of two tunnel shafts over a distance of 1.07km while only 6.5m beneath surface level.[10][11] Another multi-step project was conducted on behalf of the port of Antwerp; initially, €100 million was invested in expanding capacity and the building of 153km of additional tracks on the left bank of Antwerp. The centrepiece of this work was building a direct rail connection between the left and right banks via a pair of 16.2km single-track bores underneath the river, referred to as the Liefkenshoek connection.[3][12] During January 2010, boring work commenced on the first of the two tunnels.[13] On 9 December 2014, the completed link was officially opened.[14] Separately, Infrabel also launched safety initiatives focused on the port of Antwerp, noting the high level of accidents involving heavy goods vehicles at level crossings.[15]
During the late 2000s and 2010s, Infrabel undertook the necessary infrastructure work to facilitate the commencement of the Brussels Regional Express Network, a new suburban commuter rail service serving the capital; the project was financed via a separate budget to Infrabel's regular activities.[16] Infrabel was also responsible for delivering the HSL 4high-speed rail line running between Brussels and the country's northern border with the Netherlands to connect with HSL-Zuid, permitting international high speed train services to be operated between the two countries.[17]
Throughout the 2010s, multiple broad programmes aimed at modernising railway infrastructure were enacted. Specifically, Belgium's overhead electrification, covering 3,024km (roughly 85%) of the 3,592km of rail lines in the Belgian network, was progressive modernised, standardised, and (in some places) converted from 3kV direct current to 25kV (25,000 Volt) alternating current.[18] Infrabel has also been deploying the European Train Control System (ETCS) along strategic corridors, replacing obsolete and less effective signalling apparatus in the process; in August 2015, a €510 million contract to install such equipment along 2,200 km of track was issued to Siemens and Cofely-Fabricom.[19] by 2016, the 429km Antwerp–Athus route has been fully converted, in the process commissioning the longest ETCS railway line on a conventional rail line in Europe.[20] In 2016, it was announced that two additional tracks would be built to expand the capacity of the Brussels–Denderleeuw line, which was the busiest route in Belgium.[21] Furthermore, where reasonable to do so, Infrabel has also been eliminating level crossings, often by building new roads, bridges, or tunnels, with the twin aims of reducing accident rates and improving punctuality.[22]
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.
ProRail is a Dutch government organisation responsible for the maintenance and extension of the national railway network infrastructure, the allocation of rail capacity, and controlling rail traffic. Prorail is a part of NS Railinfratrust, the Dutch railway infrastructure owner.
The National Railway Company of Belgium is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de Velde consists of the linguistically neutral letter B in a horizontal oval.
Belgium has an extensive rail network. It is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Belgium is 88.
The North–South connection is a railway link of national and international importance through central Brussels, Belgium, that connects the major railway stations in the city. It is line 0 (zero) of the Belgian rail network. With 1200 trains a day, it is the busiest railway line in Belgium and the busiest railway tunnel in the world. It has six tracks and is used for passenger trains, or rarely for a maintenance train when work is to be done on the railway infrastructure inside the North–South connection itself, but not for freight trains. It is partially underground and partially raised above street level.
The Iron Rhine or Steel Rhine is a partially nonoperational freight railway connecting the port of Antwerp (Belgium) and Mönchengladbach (Germany) by way of Neerpelt and the Dutch towns of Weert and Roermond.
The HSL-Zuid, is a 125 kilometre-long Dutch high-speed railway line running between the Amsterdam metropolitan area and the Belgian border, with a branch to Breda, North Brabant. Together with the Belgian HSL 4 it forms the Schiphol–Antwerp high-speed railway. Originally scheduled to be in service by 2007, the first public operations began on 7 September 2009, after a ceremony on 6 September.
PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. is the Polish railway infrastructure manager, responsible for maintenance of rail tracks, conducting the trains across the country, scheduling train timetables, and management of railway land.
The HSL 2 is a Belgian high-speed rail line between Leuven and Ans and is 66.2 km (41 mi) long, all of it on dedicated high-speed tracks, which began service on 15 December 2002. As part of the Belgian railway network, it is owned, technically operated and maintained by Infrabel.
Belgium's high-speed rail network provides mostly international connections from Brussels to France, Germany and The Netherlands. The high-speed network began with the opening of the HSL 1 to France in 1997, and since then high-speed lines have been extended towards Germany with HSL 2 in 2002, HSL 3 from Liège to the German border in 2009, and HSL 4 from Antwerp to the Dutch border in 2009.
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The Class 13 are a type of mixed use 200 km/h (124 mph) multivoltage electric locomotive of type Traxis designed by Alstom in the late 1990s for the Belgian and Luxembourgish railways.
Brussels Airport-Zaventem is a railway station located beneath Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Flemish Brabant, Belgium. The station opened in 1958 on railway line 36C; in 2012, the new line 25N was added. The train services are operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB).
The Diabolo project created a new railway line serving Brussels National Airport.
The Halle train collision was a collision between two NMBS/SNCB passenger trains carrying a combined 250 to 300 people in Buizingen, in the municipality of Halle, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, on 15 February 2010. The accident occurred in snowy conditions at 08:28 CET (07:28 UTC), during rush hour, on railway line 96 (Brussels–Quévy) about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Brussels between P-train E3678 from Leuven to Braine-le-Comte and IC-train E1707 from Quiévrain to Liège. A third train was able to come to a stop just in time. The collision killed 19 people and injured 171, making it the deadliest rail accident in Belgium in over fifty years.
The Brussels S-train, also known as the Brussels Regional Express Network is a suburban rail system in and around the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It will offer fast connections and increased frequency within a 30 km (19 mi) radius of the region, covering a territory inhabited by 2.5 million people.
Lineas is the largest private rail freight operator in Europe with headquarters in Belgium and sites in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. The Federal Holding and Investment Company holds 10% of the shares. Private equity group Argos Wityu and the management of Lineas together hold the remaining 90%.
Belgium was heavily involved in the early development of railway transport. Belgium was the second country in Europe, after Great Britain, to open a railway and produce locomotives. The first line, between the cities of Brussels and Mechelen opened in 1835. Belgium was the first state in Europe to create a national railway network and the first to possess a nationalised railway system. The network expanded fast as Belgium industrialised, and by the early 20th century was increasingly under state-control. The nationalised railways, under the umbrella organisation National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB), retained their monopoly until liberalisation in the 2000s.
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