The Unique Railways of Brussels 

Something you may have missed, but literally today was the inauguration of a new tram line 10 towards the north of the city, replacing the current tram line 3 in the north-south premetro tunnel (revenue service starts monday). The tram network itself is expanding just as well, and at a much quicker pace than the metro. The metro extension has it's fair share of troubles, sadly enough.

I love the tram and metro system of Brussels; it was probably our favourite part about living there. The RER has a lot of potential, but they really need to run more frequently. I really hope they can make that a reality. The one thing they need to improve though is the ticketing. It's a very dated system. And I hate the double fare gates! The last time I was there I got stuck in one due to some kind of malfunction and I needed to call for a staff member to get me out! Eventually I'm going to have to get back to Brussels for long enough to make a proper video about all the changes that have happened there since we left in 2013. There are still WAY too many cars, but things have improved substantially!

Yes ! Slay Brussel ❤the heart of Europe and an under appreciated metro ❤

I grew up in an area with almost no public transit and then studied abroad in Brussels in college because the woman I had a crush on was doing so...errr, I mean, because I had heard about all of its beauty and historic significance. Yeah, that's it 😂. Seriously, the woman gave me the let's just be friends speech well before the study abroad semester, but I ended up falling in love with public transportation in Brussels. It was fascinating to me that I could get from one side of the city to the other underground in a short time. Planning the best route to get somewhere by public transport before Google Maps existed was a challenge I happily accepted. And trains and trams were just so much fun to be on. It's a love I still have to this day :). When I was there in 1998, the numbering was much different. The metros were numbered 1a (from the SE side of town, through the central area, to the Atomium area on the NW), 1b (from the E side of town to the SW, sharing track with the 1a through the center), and 2 (the loop around the center, except it wasn't a loop yet because the last bit on the northwest side of the loop hadn't been built yet.) The metro stations didn't yet have screens telling you how long it would be until the next train arrived; you just had to wait. Trams that went through the Premetro didn't get low numbers; for example, I frequently took what was then the 23 route through the eastern Premetro as the family I was staying with lived on that line. I would literally spend Saturdays taking public transit to areas I hadn't been. I had a map of the system (remember when you could get printed maps at stations?) on my wall and marked off the routes as I took them. Looking back, this wasn't actually the wisest thing to do as it meant going through some pretty bad parts of town, but hey, I'm still here. I haven't been back to Brussels since then, but I've been fortunate enough to visit and live in other cities with excellent transit systems in the last 25 years. But even though many of those cities have better systems than Brussels, you never forget your first love. Thanks for the memories! P. S. Before anyone asks, yes, I am single, and yes, I know why I'm single 😁.

You should have mentioned Tram 44, one of the most beautiful tram lines in the world running through a gorgeous forest 🌳Great video btw!!

As a frequent user of the system, thanks for your amazing explanation!

Long overdue. I've only been to Brussels once (1996). I didn't love the city very much, but I WAS impressed by its transport system, especially the trams. Coming from the UK, at the time, we basically didn't have any trams, so it was a novelty for me to go on some. Great to see they've kept expanding it!

As a Belgian, thank you ! I hope our country is going back in the direction of great transit like it used to be with trains going to every cities and interurban trams going in every villages and small towns (SNCV/NMVB) of the country. I wish we'd build back those tracks in rural areas with modern tram-trains. The kusttram that you covered, aswell as the Charleroi metro, were part of this giant interurban network

Actually, automation and platform screen doors aren’t long term plans. PSDs will be retrofitted in three stations in 2025, and line1/5 signaling system was designed for driverless operation, which will eventually happen once all stations are equipped with PSDs. Line 3 is planned to be automated and have PSDs when construction begins on the northern tunnel.

Thanks Reece for an absolutely brilliant explanation of a remarkably complex situation. I first visited Brussels in 1977 when the east-west line was already Metro, but the 'corner line' was still pre-metro trams! Since about 1950 Brussels has enjoyed a quite slow but very STEADY evolution of its rail transit facilities. You capture remarkably well how this city is constantly both adapting and expanding its infrastructure. (Remember that the city is not only the headquarters of the EU, but it is also the headquarters of NATO.)

You are right on time about Brussels ! The all new Tram Line 10 have just been inaugurated by the King today !

Went to the inauguration of the new tram extension into Neder-over-Heembeek today. I bought a tram stop sign.

the avid transport lovers should visit the Belgian railway museum located in the old Schaerbeek station building, Belgium built the first railway on the continent and the museum showcases it well. The whole thing takes 3hrs max to visit so if you have an afternoon to spare it is really recommended.

The fact that I was just hoping that you make a Brussels video yesterday, and now there's a Brussels video

Back when i was studying in Brussels i remember the metros and trams being the best thing about living there. Really makes it easy as hell to get around

One of the biggest transit problem Brussels has is actually the state structure of Belgium. Brussels is a small region inside Flanders. Transit is something the regions are responsible for (except trains, which are nationalised, but some want that to change too). This is the reason there is no metro to the airport (which is in Flanders). If you take a closer look all the metros and trams stop at the cities regional boundary. Brussels wants to expand, but it can't. This makes a big transit problem because a lot of the wealthier workers live outside in the towns in Flanders. This means that every morning all those people commute to Brussels, of which a lot is done by car. If our state structure were different the public transport of Brussels would be able to serve those people too. Irony is that most of those towns in Flanders don't want anything to do with Brussels

Great video as per usual Recce. You should make an explained on the Tyne and Wear metro in Newcatle, the system is unique for the UK it has many quirks.

Thank you! I visited Brussels back in January, and I loved its variety of transit modes. The Zuid/Midi station also has excellent international high-speed rail connections, especially Eurostar. My only complaint is that many rail stations have faulty tickets machines and bad data signal.

Perfect timing, it's car free Sunday in Brussels tomorrow

I recently had the opportunity to visit Brussels for work and really enjoyed the easy to use metro. I kept my Mobib card looking forward to my next visit!

Let'sgoo my Hometown ! Thanks RMTransit !

I’ve always wondered about converting LRTs to metros. Perhaps make a video about the trade-offs of pre-metro design, especially relative cost differences.

Premetro is a common scene in Belgium. Charleroi also has a premetro system with a circular tunnel in the city's CBD, but services aren't so good.

So glad you mentioned the old reversing at Beekkant. Creative junction solutions seem to be a Belgian specialty: now do Charleroi!

Thank you for covering my City Greetings from 🇧🇪

The infrequent S-trains are indeed a total nightmare. My girlfriend had to commute to work from Leuven to Linkebeek every day, and if she missed her connection in Brussels south (which happens all the time), she got stuck for an hour. I had to commute from Leuven all the way to Bruges for a time, and it was far easier than just commuting to Linkebeek because of this (which is completely crazy).

On Elisabeth/Simonis not having through running in a circle - this is actually good practice apparently. Pure circle lines have a habit of collecting delays throughout the day and it's better operationally to just have a terminus at either end. It's the same reason London's TfL decided to sever its circle line (which no longer runs in a proper circle). Good that you mentioned the S-train/RER system - it really needs frequency and is a hugely underused resource at the moment.

Reece, can you cover the Nuremberg U-bahn? Nuremberg is one of the smallest cities to have full-fledged heavy-rail metro system, and it is also interesting, why it was decided to build a proper metro here, whereas in Stuttgart, which is bigger in population, it was the stadtbahn system that was built.

I very much appreciate Brussels' transit system, as it lets you quickly and efficiently get to all the wonderful places that are not Brussels.

As a brussels resident frequent user of the system i can say you did an incredible job!

@NotJustbikes coming quick in the comments, i can smell it. He hates BXL

The Brussels RER network is in part a real new suburban network, with upgraded lines and stations, better signposting and rerouting some connections. But it is also a major rebranding of the previously existing slower train system that was there since over a century with stopping and peak hour trains. They now get a nice letter ‘S’ and a new number, but a lot of these connections already existed. The major investment in the RER network was the work to bring 2 track lines to 4 track lines in 5 directions around Brussels. This means that on these lines the 2 central tracks are adapted for the intercity and other faster services, with speeds of at least 140 km/h when leaving Brussels centre, and soon afterwards 160 km/h, even a short stretch of 200 km/h on the line shared with the high speed line to Liege and Germany. The line to the north (Antwerp) is not in this form, but taking into account the new tracks via the airport the capacity to the North has been increased already (but not enough, the Brussels-Antwerp line, even with the large works around he airport and Mechelen station, is more and more a bottle neck). The line to the West was already double in the sense that there was a decades old faster line without level crossings, close to the existing other 2 track line. From Gent onwards to the coast, this upgrade to 4 tracks is also ongoing, but that is no longer linked to the RER. The line to the east via Leuven was already brought to standards 20 ago, in the framework of the above mentioned high speed line to Germany. Then there is the line to the south east, direction of Namur and furher on to the countryof Luxemburg. There were funding problems, a lack of building permits and so on, that have delayed this RER extension, but work is continuing, with a gradual opening between 2027 and 2030. The line to the South, continuing to Charleroi, is supposed to get its 4 track RER upgrade to ‘Nivelles’. This line starts in the Brussels area of the country, then continues over Flemish soil, and then enters the Walloon part of the country. The village in the Flemish part of the track does not agree with the proposed building works, so this is still uncertain and on that stretch no work has started. If it would start soon, it will not ve ready before 2032. The RER network benefits all regions of Belgium, but some politicians still see it as a ‘Brussels’ project, and are not so enthousiastic to provide extra funding to the national rail infrastructure provider to get the work done. Climate change and huge traffic problems around Brussels show that this project is essential, but the ongoing talks for a new central federal government proposed budget cuts rather then budget increases for rail.

2:58 Fun Fact they opened a new tram line in the north of Brussels today!

Watching this while getting ready to enjoy free public transport on Brussels Car Free day, nice timing! 😊

At last the Brussel Pré-métro, it was a personnal request of mine because of the concept to build underground tram tunnel before switching to a Metro instead. i.e Cost cutting or doubling the trouble or long term vision.

I rode the Brussels Metro in 2012. Definitely an ODD mix of mid to late 20th Century design and 21st Century modern aesthetic. I regret not taking more photos of it.

I find it hilarious that belgium has not one but two metro systems where trains switch from LHD to RHD partway through a route. Unfortunately, the line in Charleroi with the switch never opened.

I think Brussels actually needs a Crossrail-like second railway connection, directly connecting Brussels South and the Schuman or Luxembourg station in the European quarter. Because also important things are a) the entire heavy rail system is run by national carrier SNCB/NMBS , so also the suburban lines. But NMBS already explicitly said that "the Brussels suburban lines are not their core business".. b) the INCREDIBLE bottleneck of the North-South tunnel. Some sources say this is the busiest rail line in the entire world (i think when using the metric: amount of total trains per day, divided by number of tracks which are only 3 in each direction). A minor incident on this section has consequences on the entire Belgian rail network. So the city actually needs infrastructure being able to reroute many of the commuter S-trains or even intercity and high speed trains via a new tunnel link. And i think this new project will be a necessary condition for high frequency rail of at least each 15 minutes. And also, this would create a loop South-European quarter-Schaarbeek-Laken-West station-South. Interesting for a new metro project as well? But this will be a megaproject anyway, because in order not to bulldoze entire city neighbourhoods, this tunnel will need to start beyond Brussels South, which means Brussels South will have to become a multilevel-station with all trains running on this line stopping underground. Doubtful if there are chances this will become reality in the near future given the dreadful bloody red numbers the Belgian state's budget is currently in.. In general, Brussels transit is by far the best functioning of Belgium. STIB/MIVB definitely beats the mess Flander's transit carrier De Lijn is constantly making...

Thank you, it's always great to hear more about Brussels!

Wow! This makes me want to revisit Brussels.

I remember getting around the city easily when I visited in 2018 but I ran into the worst people on the system. While I was in a busy tram, someone reached into my coat pocket, took my phone and ran. Another time, there was someone intent on coughing on me and moved closer when I moved away. Maybe I'll have better luck in the future if I ever go back, with everything in inside pockets.

I loved the pre-metro lines. Also bombardier rolling stock ❤

Toronto should look to Brussels for inspiration on how to design a forward-thinking transit system. Toronto and Ontario politicians have always chosen to build the megaprojects of today over the potential rapid transit expansion of tomorrow. One reason for this "all or nothing" approach to transit is because, in the eyes of North American politicians, cars and roads are prioritized above trains and deserve all the time in the world, while transit has to be built in megaprojects if it is ever to succeed.

Great video! Would love to see an video on Charleroi and its premetro system both planned, built but not opened and opened stations... Sad that one city and its metro systems are so successful while a nearby one was hit hard by industrial decline and has never recovered since...

You have to do the complex and hybrid tram network of The Hague. The Hague tram (HTM) runs both at street level, underground and above ground. There are underground and above ground tram stops, which are more like metro stations. What is special is that The Hague also has a light rail network (RandstadRail) that connects the suburbs and satellite cities. These light rail vehicles also use the tram network of The Hague. Then The Hague is also connected to a metro line (E) to Rotterdam (RET) here too the light rail vehicles (RandstadRail) run on the same metro track of the (RET) and they also share the platforms.

Brussels has an absolutely crazy rapid transit system for only 1.2 million people. I had no idea the city is that small.

Also another thing that wasn’t mentioned is that the operator is working and getting closed to finishing making all stations step free accessible

Premetros were actually inspired by Germany’s stadtbahns. I’m surprised you didn’t make that comparison considering how you’ve praised them in the past.

Boston had visions of converting portions of the Green Line trolley tunnels to full metro. Kenmore Station was built with 4 tracks, 2 platforms. The innermost tracks had trestles built above a pit for the existing streetcars, that could be removed if ever converted to full metro. It was conceived that the Boston College line would be extended as a subway under Commonwealth Ave westbound from Kenmore. In fact, tunnel sidewalls were extended to a point beyond Kenmore for that purpose. The Green Line streetcar branch inbound from Brookline would have passengers transfer at Kenmore to this new metro, and the trolleys would then take an underground loop to head back out to Beacon Street. Also, the Huntington Ave. trolley line had a trestle built at the portal to the street, with the same tunnel sidewalls continuing under the avenue with the same idea for future metro conversion. Obviously, nothing happened. When the Boeing-Vertol LRVs arrived in the mid-1970s it was discovered that they were too heavy for the trestles at Kenmore and Huntington Ave., so they were removed and the pits filled in. Of course, major retrofits of the ancient Green Line tunnels would have been necessary for this "pre-metro" to full subway. What might have been, though.

The term RER has been imported to Belgium from abroad, I suppose largely because of the RER network of Paris. So the term is used since 20 years for the improved commuter rail service aroind Brussels. The lines get a ‘S’ logo and number. But then the Belgian railway started to use the same terminology for trains around Antwerp and Liege too. Again, mainly a rebranding of existing services, but in Liege a short new line actually opened, on tracks previously used for the heavy steel industry.

Omg, I never expected you to make a video about Brussels lol.

People who invented poutine have no right calling anyone out for mayo on fries 😉

You should visit Budapest, it has an excellent public transit system - when it's not flooded...

I used to work for a company whose European headquerters was in Brussels and I went there a couple of times. Interesting town. All the signs were bilingual, but you were always greeted in French in shops and restaurants. Great food. The hotel we stayed at included "191" in its address but I knew what to say. In French, at least. The less said about my Flemish the better. 🙂

The Brussels tram and metro network did benefit from a lot of investments over the last years. It is not just the larger projects and new trains, but also the work thas been done to make the network more fluid and comfortable. The metro stations did get quite some renovation projects, but not all or all parts have been tackled yet. HOWEVER … there is a serious ‘double trouble’ : - the Brussels region is living way above what it can really afford financially. The debt is huge, the deficit too. Traditionally the Brussels region likes to look to the national government, but … that is not likely to help from now on. The elections of june 2024 did not uet lead to a new Belgian federal government, but the ongoing talks point to a centre right government that wants to have a stricter budget, and the federal politicians are not very Brussels-minded. - the metro line 3 is projected to go very serious above budget. Since no actual work started on the stretch north of the North station, this part of the project risks to be cancelled. There is definitely a good case for this project, that will run close to the NATO headquarters. But f the budget just isn.t there, better stop in time. Does this mean that the central section of the metro line 3 is doing better ? No, absolutely not. Just north of the Brussels South station the line was supposed to use a new tunnel under anlarge historical building. Not a very nice building, but still, it is protected. And … the soil there is way to swampy. When the tunnelbuilders poored concrete into holes the dug out to create support colums, under the basement of the building, the concrete just vanished rapidly and in large quantities, also flowing to nearby areas where the drilling was not done uet, so now the drilling will have to go through the recently poored and drifting away concrete. There is no decent solution for this problem. The latest idea is to completely evacuate the building, completely gut it from the inside, try and get a metro line underneath, and then rebuild the inside of the large multistorey building. This is going to cost many hunderds of millions of euros, without a guarantee it will work, and with more technical and financial risks. The people having declared the soil there suitable clearly did a bad job, and the tragedy is that they were also involved in declaring the soil of the northern stretch suitable. Lets hope …

As if Brussels wasn't already on my bucket list!

there is also brussel-schuman and brussel-luxemburg, for trains to luxembourg. there also are 2 small stations between south and north stations, brussel-congres and brussel-kapellekerk

0:52 "... and lies roughly in the middle of Paris, Amsterdam and London" - Looking at this map, the "middle" between these would be somewhere near the belgian coast line, or even in norther France, between Calais and Brugge. Brussels is even outside of the triangle formed by the other three cities.

Thanks for covering my home city! Timing isn't great, today and tomorrow are literally the last days of operation of tram 3, because with the opening of the new tracks to Neder-Over-Heembeek in the North, they are reorganising the network, with a new line 10 taking over the bulk of the current line 3 (except the northern branch to Esplanade, which will be taken over by a new tram line over existing tracks to the East of the city.) The second ring line will most likely not be a metro, but will stay a tram with short tunnels left and right. You clearly knew about the extension to the Airport, but it seems to have been removed from the script later. Oh, well.

The new, to-be-build, metroline 3 has its own website with technical details on how it will be constructed (and how they're planning to work or change the building above). It could have its own video.

They did the premetro thing in Antwerp too, though they never did and will make it a proper metro, wich is very unfortunate because we now still have problems like delays, and sometimes not even service in the city centre 😢

I wish my city of 1.2M people had a transit system anywhere close to this. 😂 Hello from Edmonton. 👋

I used to visit BRU a lot in the 2000s. The network is not that legible for visitors (a feature common to bus/tram cities in contrast to mero/rail cities). Eurocrats used to get around by sharing secret transit hacks e.g. how to get to the EU quarter from Midi via regional train.

Great video, but there are two very important parts missing. The first is the corridor between Brussels North and South. There are only 6 tracks. 3 in each direction and this causes delays that has an influence all over the country for many trains. The second is the connection to the Airport. Although existing, it is stupid expensive as you need to pay a supplement that costs 6.70 EUR per person, per journey. That is a SUPPLEMENT, not the ticket itself. So for a 16-20 minute train trip from Brussels central, you pay 10.80 EUR. (Same for 10 minutes from Brussels North).

Pls do prague next

You forgot the beer.

Congratulations on your video, but I'm sorry about your timing! 😛 In two days time, this video will already be outdated, as tram 3, now going from Esplanade via Brussels North to Churchill will cease existing, becoming line 35 from Esplanade towards Meiser and Weldoeners/Bienfaiteurs. In lieu of tram 3, tram 10 which had its royal inauguration today with many festivities in Neder-over-Heembeek will be running from the Military Hospital in the North of Brussels on a completely new route into Heembeek, and from there as line 3 to Churchill via the North station.

Credits definitely also go to Elke, the amazing Greens minister of mobility of Brussels.

A small correction : It's not called "STIB-MIVB" but just "STIB" or "MIVB" depending on the language. And at least in French it's called "STIB" like it's just a normal word (I guess in Dutch it's the same ? I don't really have Dutch speaking friends, so I can't tell for sure), almost pronounced "STIP". It's the same for trains, it's either "SNCB" or "NMBS", but not both at the same time

Do a revised one of Stockholm, or one of Gothenburg!!

Barely even mentioned the SBahn /RER, would’ve been neat to see what lines it has as well.

Please do my city Bordeaux next!!!

Brussels public transit is pretty good ngl but its sososo expensive man

Cool to watch this right after getting off the metro 😂

Great video!

its going to be nice if you did a video about Sofi in Bulgaria

I visited Brussels this past January, and I do think that the city needs more metro development and expand to neighboring regions that only depend on buses because a lot people live and work right outside the city.

Funny enough, your video will only be up to date for 2 days, because starting Monday, tram line 3 will disappear in favour of the new line 10 Very good coverage though, although I’m a bit surprised you didn’t cover the tram network in more details

Brussels has an abandoned subway line that the city transit authority needs to spruce up, make ready, and open to passengers.

I really hope the S-trains increase frequency soon, once or twice an hour is just not enough to form a reliable backbone of urban transit

Brussels (and Belgium in general) needs to improve their wheelchair assistance. Booking is painful, they are entirely unable to make changes if you have a delay, lifts are often broken. I got stuck at Centraal because SNCB refused to put down a ramp and the metro lift wasn't working. Worst I've known in Europe

Can you do a Video about the Stadtbahn Bielefeld

To me the biggest sin of the Brussels metro is not displaying on any maps that Elizabeth and Simonis is actually *the same station* complex !

I lived in Brussels between 2001 and 2004 and it has declined so much. I used to feel safe except near Gard du Nord but today it feels a lot less safe in general. I feel much safer in Leuven and I think many people will flee Brussels in the future so I'm not sure expanding the transport network makes sense.

Still sitting here to wait for the Moscow metro video 🥲

Finally finally 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Only the surrounding connections just out of Brussels could be better 😁

I live in a U.S. city that has had little to no foresight into growing as much as it has and along some already choked out streets, there are several not yet occupied apartment complexes. I regularly have to drive, at the start of peak traffic time, a strangled four lane road, with no center turning lane and poorly timed traffic lights. One lacking feature everywhere, which I figure is likely due to lack of eminent domain laws, is the lack of right hand turn lanes. As a California transplant to a state that's red, I am finding it hilarious how politically valid (ie; messaging that works on the prevalent exceptionalist mindset here) to distance itself from California ideologically. If facts mattered California would be a state to emulate and learn from, but, well, what never worked all that well in the first place gets idealized as perfect once upon a time, when there's something to blame for why it doesn't work well now.

My dream video about my city, thank you RMTransit ! 🥹😍

Copenhagen (Denmark) to Gotenburg (Sweden)

Still waiting for Glasgow

Plain mayonnaise on fries is boring. Sauce andalouse on fries is heaven. 🤤

nice

And now the truth.. as local, I can tell you very little further large-scale development will take place from here, since the city is heavily indebted and by no means hosts an economy (let alone the political stability to boost one) that can support any such ambitous growth as the future projects mentioned in the video..

omg you did it xD

epic

The Not just bikes character assassination of Brussels is a pity. Its nothing like Amsterdam, the comparison is useless. If you take it on its own it is doing a lot of amazing stuff. A city with an exiting future, i think in 10 years and 20 it will be completely different

Budapest?!

It looks like you are purposefully avoiding covering Prague, the best or second best transit network in the world

Edmonton was the pioneer of modern Pre-Metro in North America way back in 1978, which was still the best time to build a subway under the downtown... Aka the past when it was far cheaper... Now it would cost BILLIONS and take a decade thanks to NIMBYISM and regulations... Just ask Calgary... No Stephen Avenue subway... No Green Line LRT... Just UCP intervention designed to literally derail a project that was ham-handedly conceived in the first place...