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.
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region, located less than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the south. Historically Dutch-speaking, Brussels saw a language shift to French from the late 19th century. Nowadays, the Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual in French and Dutch, although French is the majority language and lingua franca. Brussels is also increasingly becoming multilingual. English is spoken widely and many migrants and expatriates speak other languages as well.
The Brussels Metro is a rapid transit system serving a large part of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It consists of four conventional metro lines and three premetro lines. The metro-grade lines are M1, M2, M5, and M6 with some shared sections, covering a total of 39.9 kilometres (24.8 mi), with 59 metro-only stations. The premetro network consists of three tram lines that partly travel over underground sections that were intended to be eventually converted into metro lines. Underground stations in the premetro network use the same design as metro stations. A few short underground tramway sections exist, so there is a total of 52.0 kilometres (32.3 mi) of underground metro and tram network. There are a total of 69 metro and premetro stations as of 2011.
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 Brussels tramway network is a tram system serving a large part of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It is the 16th largest tram system in the world by route length, in 2017 providing 149.1 million journeys over routes 140.6 km (87.4 mi) in length. In 2018, it consisted of 18 tram lines. Brussels trams are operated by STIB/MIVB, the local public transport company.
Brussels-Schuman railway station is a railway station in the City of Brussels, Belgium, serving the European Quarter. The station received its name from the aboveground Robert Schuman Roundabout, itself named after Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of the European Union, the Council of Europe and NATO.
Merode is a railway and metro station in Brussels, Belgium. It lies in the municipality of Etterbeek, near the border between Etterbeek, the City of Brussels and Schaerbeek. The metro end is under the Porte de Tervueren/Tervuursepoort, which is the start of the Avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan, a major thoroughfare, while the mainline railway station end is under the Square Princesse Jean de Mérode/Prinses Jean de Mérodeplein. The two stations are connected by a long underground concourse punctuated by ticket barriers. The area is named in honour of the Princess Jean de Mérode.
Delta is a railway and metro station in the municipality of Auderghem, in the south-eastern part of Brussels, Belgium. It is located near the intersection of the Boulevard du Triomphe/Triomflaan and the Boulevard des Invalides/Invalidenlaan and provides access to the adjacent Plaine campus of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and to the Etterbeek campus of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
Maelbeek or Maalbeek is a Brussels Metro station on lines 1 and 5. It is located under the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat in the City of Brussels, Belgium. The station takes its name from the nearby Maalbeek stream.
Brussels-Luxembourg railway station is a railway station in the European Quarter of Brussels, Belgium, located under the Esplanade of the European Parliament.
Brussels-North railway station is one of the three major railway stations in Brussels, Belgium; the other two are Brussels-Central and Brussels-South. Every regular domestic and international train passing there has a planned stop. The station has 200,000 passengers per week, mainly commuters, making it one of the busiest in Belgium.
Simonis and Elisabeth are two interconnected Brussels Metro stations serving lines 2 and 6 on two different levels, as well as a tram and bus stop. Additionally, Simonis railway station is a railway station operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB/NMBS). It is served by the Brussels Regional Express Network (RER/GEN) service.
Brussels-West Station is a multimodal transport hub located in the municipality of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, in the western part of Brussels, Belgium. It mainly consists of Gare de l'Ouest (French) or Weststation (Dutch), a Brussels Metro station on lines 1, 2, 5 and 6, as well as a tram and bus stop. Additionally, Brussels-West railway station is a railway station operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB/NMBS). It is served by the Brussels Regional Express Network (RER/GEN) service.
The Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company is the local public transport operator in Brussels, Belgium. It is usually referred to in English by the double acronym STIB/MIVB, or by its French acronym, STIB.
The premetro and tram route 4 in Brussels, Belgium, is a tram route operated by STIB/MIVB, which connects the Stalle Parking stop in the southern municipality of Uccle to Brussels-North railway station in the municipality of Schaerbeek. It was created on 2 July 2007 as a new route between Esplanade and Stalle Parking. On 31 August 2009, the route was shortened with a new terminus at Brussels-North, while line 3 was expanded between Brussels-North and Esplanade. The colour of the signage for this line is pink.
The tram route 51 in Brussels, Belgium, is a tram route operated by STIB/MIVB, which connects Heysel/Heizel metro station in the City of Brussels to the Van Haelen stop in the municipality of Uccle. The route runs north–south, crossing the City of Brussels, Jette, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, the City of Brussels again, Saint-Gilles, Forest and Uccle. Currently, service is interrupted between Brussels-South railway station and Altitude Cent/Hoogte Honderd due to construction work at Albert premetro station.
The Brussels buses network is complementary to the rail network in Brussels, Belgium, which consists of trams, trains, and metro trains. Brussels buses are operated by STIB/MIVB, the local public transport company. It has 50 bus routes and 11 night routes, which run on Friday and Saturday night.
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.
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.
