History of rail transport in Belgium
Background
Attempts to build railways in Belgium significantly predated the establishment of the first line. In 1829, the British-Belgian industrialist John Cockerill tried to obtain a concession from the Dutch king William I to build a railway line from Brussels to Antwerp[citation needed], without success. Shortly after the independence of Belgium from the Netherlands after the Belgian Revolution of 1830, a debate opened on the desirability of establishing public railway lines using the steam locomotives recently developed in England, where the first private railway had been completed in 1825.
Post-independence
Following the
Rail networks and railways
First railways
Unlike the United Kingdom, where early railways had been developed by the private sector, the state took the initiative in the development of railways in Belgium, partly out of the fear that large banks, like the Société Générale de Belgique could develop a monopoly in the industry.[4] Considering that the railways would be a major economic resource and a full national network would be necessary, the Belgian government was unusual at the time for planning a national network in advance before any was built.[3]
At first, only one line was studied (the line between Antwerp and the Prussian border).[5] However, the project quickly evolved:[6]
- Instead of a direct line, the Antwerp - Cologne line was rerouted through Mechelen (where a short stub line to Brussels could be built), Leuven, Liège and Verviers. This itinerary was longer and more complicated but it would be more profitable and generate more traffic;[5]
- Another line, starting at Mechelen, would reach Dendermonde, Ghent, Bruges and Ostend, granting a safe access to the sea (since the Dutch were able to blockade the Scheldt, cutting Antwerp away from the sea);.[6]
- A southbound line would link Brussels and Mons, an industrial town at the heart of the Sillon industriel, before crossing the French border[6] (near Quiévrain), where a connecting line could reach Valenciennes, in northern France.
In 1834, the Belgian government approved a plan to build a railway between Mons, and the port of Antwerp via Brussels at a cost of 150 million Belgian francs.[7][4] The first stretch of the Belgian railway network, between northern Brussels and Mechelen, it was completed in 1835 and was the first steam passenger railway in continental Europe.[7] The line between Liège and Ostend meant that the country had a full rail network planned nearly from the outset.[7] By 1836, the line to Antwerp had been completed and by 1843 the two main lines (which formed a rough north-south/east-west cross) had been finished[8] while two other mainlines (Ghent - Kortrijk - Mouscron - Tournai (with an international line linking Mouscron with Lille) - Braine-le-Comte (on the Brussels - Mons line) - Manage (near La Louvière) - Charleroi - Namur) were added to this network and completed by 1843.[6] In 1843, each provincial capital (save Arlon and Hasselt) had a railway station.
Early Belgian railways were heavily influenced by British designs, and British technology and engineers were extremely important. The engineer George Stephenson travelled on the first train between Brussels-Mechelen in 1835, and his company provided the first three locomotives (based on the Rocket design)[a] used on the line.[8] The rapid expansion of the Belgian railways in the 1830s was one of the factors allowing Belgium to recover from an economic recession which it had experienced since the revolution and served as a major force in the Belgian Industrial Revolution.[1]
Expansion
In France and Germany, private companies quickly built connections to the Belgian international lines, connecting the cities of Lille, Valenciennes (in France), Cologne and Aachen (in Germany) to the Belgian network between 1842 and 1843.
Despite the fact that very few lines (47.7 km) were built by the
Ownership, nationalisation and electrification
The Belgian government resisted attempts by foreign companies to buy up railway assets in Belgium. In the winter of 1868, against a background of French threats to Belgium and Luxembourg under the rule of
In 1870, the Belgian state owned 863 kilometres (536 mi) of rail lines, while the private enterprises owned 2,231 kilometres (1,386 mi). From 1870 to 1882, the railways were gradually
The SNCB-NMBS first introduced electrification on the 44 kilometres (27 mi)
During the German occupation in World War II, the SNCB-NMBS was forced to participate in the deportation of Belgian Jews to camps in Eastern Europe as part of the Holocaust.
Liberalisation
In 2005, the NMBS/SNCB was split up into three parts, to facilitate future
Colonial and overseas railways
Numerous railways were built in the Belgian Congo under Belgian colonial rule which form the basis of the railway infrastructure of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Belgian engineers and railway companies were instrumental in building railways in
Locomotives
The first Belgian-built locomotive, named
The SNCB-NMBS traditionally terms its locomotives as classes or types.
Tramways
Belgium has a long tradition of
Belgians also played a major part in exporting tram components abroad. Baron Empain, a Belgian industrialist and major investor in railways, gained the nickname "Tramway King" for his company's work in Russia, France, China, Egypt and the Congo and is perhaps best known for his work on the Paris Métro.
Museums and heritage railways
- Train World, a railway museum in Schaerbeek, Brussels opened on 25 September 2015,
- Hainaut province,
- province of Namur.
- Stoomtrein Maldegem - Eeklo
- Stoomtrein Dendermonde - Puurs
- Brussels Tram Museum, a collection of historic trams in Brussels.
- ASVi museum, a tram museum in Thuin, Hainaut province.
See also
- Beijing–Hankou Railway in China, built by Belgian capital
- History of Belgium
- Rail transport in Belgium
- Vennbahn
- History of rail transport in Luxembourg
References
- ^ The three locomotives were named La Flèche ("Arrow"), L'Eléphant, and Stephenson, after their designer. The first Belgian-produced locomotives were used after 1835.
- ^ The National Railway Company of Belgium was named the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Belges in French, and Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen in Dutch, following the format of the French SNCF.
Notes
- ^ a b Pirenne 1948, p. 78.
- ^ Witte 2010, pp. 151–2.
- ^ a b Pirenne 1948, p. 77.
- ^ a b c d e f Witte 2010, p. 152.
- ^ a b Simons, Pierre; Ridder, Gustave Nicolas Joseph de (1833). Description de la route en fer à établir d'Anvers à Cologne ...: Mémoire à l'appui du projet d'un chemin à ornières de fer, à établir entre Anvers, Bruxelles, Liège, et Verviers, destiné à former la 1er section de la nouvelle route d'Anvers à Cologne. Rédigé d'après les ordres du Ministre de l'intérieur (in French). P.M. De Vroom.
- ^ a b c d Dambly, 1989, p. 6-7
- ^ a b c Wolmar 2010, p. 19.
- ^ a b Wolmar 2010, p. 20.
- ^ Pasinomie: collection complète des lois, décrets, ordonnances, arrêtés et règlements généraux qui peuvent être invoqués en Belgique (in French). E. Bruylant. 1845.
- ^ a b Witte 2010, p. 153.
- ^ Pirenne 1948, p. 213.
Bibliography
- Dambly, Phil (1989). Vapeur en Belgique [Steam in Belgium]. Vol. Tome 1: Des origines à 1914 [Volume 1: Origins to 1914]. Brussels: G. Blanchart & Cie. ISBN 2872020055. (in French)
- Dambly, Phil (1994). Vapeur en Belgique [Steam in Belgium]. Vol. Tome 2: De 1914 aux dernières fumées [Volume 2: From 1914 to last smoke]. Brussels: G. Blanchart & Cie. ISBN 2872020136. (in French)
- Pirenne, Henri (1948). Histoire de Belgique. Vol. VII: De la Révolution de 1830 à la Guerre de 1914 (2nd ed.). Brussels: Maurice Lamertin.
- Witte, Els (2010). La Construction de la Belgique, 1828-1847. Nouvelle Histoire de Belgique (Fr. trans. ed.). Bruxelles: Le Cri édition. ISBN 978-2-8710-6535-7.
- ISBN 978-1-84887-171-7.
Further reading
- De Block, Greet (2011). "Designing the Nation: The Belgian Railway Project, 1830–1837". Technology and Culture. 52 (4): 703–732. S2CID 201778598.
- Nilsen, Micheline (2008). Railways and the Western European capitals: Studies of implantation in London, Paris, Berlin, and Brussels. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-60773-6.
- Smith, Ron (2021). Belgium's Unique Railway History. Chippenham, Wilts, UK: Mainline & Maritime. ISBN 978-1900340939.
- Van der Herten, Bart (2004). België onder stoom: transport en communicatie tijdens de 19de eeuw. Leuven: Universitaire Pers Leuven. ISBN 978-9058673480.
External links
- "Belgium's Steel Network: The Most Concentrated System in the World". mikes.railhistory.railfan.net.
Description of Belgian railways 1935
- Michel Marin, Histoire des Chemins de Fer en Belgique (in French) – an online history of rail transport in Belgium
- Guy Demeulder, Les gares belges d'autrefois – historic photographs of railways in Belgium