Brussels trams

"' (or streetcar) system is a successful medium-sized system, whose development demonstrates many of the quandaries that face local public transport planners. It also has a number of interesting peculiarities.

Intermodal integration

The system exists in an interesting local government context, because Brussels is a self-governing region, in fact an enclave within Flanders, although lying only some 3.3 kilometres from Wallonia at the closest point. This means that three-way deals are necessary between Brussels’ own STIB/MIVB, Flanders’ [http://www.delijn.be De Lijn] and Wallonia’s [http://www.infotec.be TEC] .Within the range of transport modes operated by STIB/MIVB (the Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company) trams fall between buses and a heavy metro. But beyond that, STIB sees itself as a provider of "mobility" rather than just public transport, and has a 49% share in the town’s [http://www.cambio.be Cambio] car sharing franchise. The Brussels conurbation – its 19 municipalities plus adjoining commuter belt – is also served by a fairly dense network of main-line trains. There is a good level of interticketing, and multiple-journey cards are interchangeable. A simple tariff system permits passengers to make unlimited changes with a one-hour period at a cost of €1.50 or less.

Ridership has been rising, and other user-friendly features that have grown up through custom and practice help this. For instance passengers open the doors themselves by pressing a green strip on the central pole, and drivers usually make a point of waiting for latecomers. However overcrowding at rush hours and at weekend is common, and fare-dodging is reputedly quite high, despite periodic enforcement campaigns.

Routes

There are 17 routes, serving most points of the compass, and including two partial ring routes. These have a very varied feel, including street running through narrow streets in working class districts (lines 81 and 82), cobbled central reservation, reserved track through parkland and woods (44), and signal-controlled running in tunnels (the "premetro"). There are even some short stretches of gutter running (18). Almost all trams are double-ended and all are double-sided, and some stub termini in the middle of the road remain (55), although most have loops.The route pattern shows some notable gaps, particularly along major radial routes, because these were originally served by a separate tram system, the national network of "tramways vicinaux/buurtspoorwegen". These had a track gauge of one metre, as against the Brussels standard gauge, and so the tracks could not easily be taken over when the lines were progressively closed from the 1960s onwards.

The complementary routing of "vicinal" and urban tracks and the replacement of key lines by metro has led to some peculiar track layouts, for instance at the Barrière de St-Gilles/Bareel St-Gillis. Of the seven roads that meet at this circular junction, six originally contained tramlines, whereas today only three do. To negotiate a sharp turn, route 18, until it was closed on 1st July 2007, had to make a 270-degree turn on its journey away from the city centre, looping round and crossing its own path.

A further peculiarity is that under the South station, the premetro and metro tracks both swap from running on the right to running on the left where they run parallel to provide cross-platform interchange between the two lines. This serves no apparent purpose, but may be because main line trains in Belgium run on the left.

Between 2006 and 2009 a phased transformation of the tram network will take place, with the aim of improving regularity and relieving overcrowding. For instance the premetro service between Noordstation/Gare du Nord and Albert will be restructured with fewer lines passing through it, but at more regular intervals. These routes will use the new longer Bombardier trams. During this period of transformation the bus network will undergo complementary revisions.

High-floor and low-floor trams

The development of the system is being pulled in two contradictory directions – towards low-floor street-running trams and high-floor underground railway. This has led to some conflicting decisions. The standard trams – still "PCC"s from the 1950s and 60s – have been followed by the specially designed "T2000" low-floor model, and at the end of 2005 was joined by a variant of the off-the-shelf "Flexity Outlook" from Bombardier (3000 series), and end of 2006 by an even longer version of the same family (4000 series). But in some of the busiest routes the convenience of the low floor is lost because of the anomalies caused by the hesitant upgrade of tram to metro.

The city now has three heavy metro lines and three stretches of premetro or underground tram. The premetro tunnels have been built to allow for eventual upgrade to heavy metro. Thus most of the platform is high, and is connected to the street (at least in the upward direction) by escalator. In the city centre lifts are being installed. But there is a cutout section taking the level down to one foot above ground, to board the trams. The three steps this entails make life difficult for passenger with baby buggies or suitcases (the trams themselves are inaccessible to wheel-chair users).

Livery

Brussels trams have known several liveries. In the beginning of the 20th century, vehicles operated by the "Tramways Bruxellois" were dark green, whileas the "Chemins de fer Economiques" had chocolate-liveried trams. The two companies merged in the 1920s, whereupon a standard livery of primerose yellow was adopted which lasted (with some minor changes in the trimmings) until the mid-1990s when a brighter shade of yellow was adopted.

A profound change in livery came in 2006 with the adoption of the so-called art nouveau livery, of silver and light brown, which adorns the new 3000 and 4000 vehicles and is gradually being applied to the whole fleet.

Heritage trams

The system exists in happy symbiosis with an active heritage operation based at the Woluwe depot, and privately hired trams have free access to the tracks. Very old trams, which still collect their current through trolley poles rather than pantographs, are normally restricted to the scenic line from Cinquantenaire park via Woluwe to Tervuren, which is run with the help of volunteers from the preservation society [http://www.tram2000.be MTUB] (Museum of Brussels Urban Transport). This service runs on weekends from April to October; occasionally, such as on the Belgian national holiday July 21, these trams appear in the city centre, where the line in the "Koningsstraat/Rue Royale" is trolleypole-enabled.

Over the years, several Brussels trams have been sent to the United States. Brussels tram 7037 is in San Francisco operating on line F, surreally repainted in the blue-and-white livery of Zürich. Brussels tram 1504 is at the Trolley Museum of New York and 1511 is at Old Pueblo Trolley. An ex-Brussels 4-axle PCC is also awaiting restoration at the Ontario St shed of Vancouver's Downtown heritage railway.

Route list

Tram routes as of 30 June 2008.

*3: Churchill — Gare du Nord / Noordstation "No service in the evening."
*4: Esplanade — Stalle P
*19: De Wand — Groot-Bijgaarden
*23: Heizel / Heysel — Vanderkindere
*24: Schaarbeek Station / Schaerbeek Gare — Vanderkindere "No service on week ends and holidays."
*25: Boondaal Station / Boondael Gare — Rogier
*31: Gare du Nord / Noordstation — Marius Renard "Only in the evening."
*32: Drogenbos Kasteel / Drogenbos Château — Gare du Nord / Noordstation "Only in the evening."
*33: Bordet Station — Churchill "Only in the evening."
*39: Ban Eik — Montgomery
*44: Montgomery — Tervuren Station
*51: Heizel / Heysel — Van Haelen
*51: Lemonnier — Van Haelen "Note that Lemonnier is only an arrival station; on their way back trams start their service at Gare du Midi / Zuidstation. Only at peak hours."
*55: Bordet Station — Rogier "No service in the evening."
*56: Gare du Nord / Noordstation — Schaarbeek Station / Schaerbeek Gare "Only at peak hours."
*81: Marius Renard — Montgomery "No service in the evening."
*82: Berchem Station — Drogenbos Kasteel / Drogenbos Château "No service in the evening."
*82: Drogenbos Kasteel / Drogenbos Château — Lemonnier "Only at peak hours."
*83: Berchem Station — Montgomery "Only in the evening."
*92: Fort-Jaco — Schaarbeek Station / Schaerbeek Gare
*94: Herrmann-Debroux — Stade / Stadion "Only in the evening."
*94: Herrmann-Debroux — Louise / Louiza "No service in the evening."
*94: Legrand — Stade / Stadion "No service in the evening."
*97: Louise / Louiza — Stalle P (however curtailment at the Barrière de St-Gilles has been proposed)

Stricken-out numbers represent partial services (they don't go up to the end of the line). Only regular services are shown in this list.

ee also

*List of town tramway systems
*List of town tramway systems in Belgium

References

*"Tramways and Urban Transit", July 2005, published by the [http://www.lrta.org Light Rail Transit Association]
*fr icon [http://www.tram2000.be Tram2000] - a monthly magazine
*fr icon en icon [http://www.planitram.be Planitram] , public transport in the Region of Brussels-Capital