BRUXELLES / BRUSSEL - BRUSSELS

VIDEOS

Above: YouTubeCA video - 1973 - tramways de Bruxelles - Length: 7:03 mins.	Above: YouTubeCA video - Les 150 ans du tram a Bruxelles (STIB) - Length: 17:25 mins.	Above: YouTubeCA video - Ligne tramway W années 60's - Length: 15:16 mins.

PHOTOS

MAPS

INSET: CENTRAL BRUSSELS

INSET: EXTENDED BRUSSELS REGION

Only SNCV lines shown

I created the above maps by overlaying OpenStreetMap (OSM) maps with my own data. Copyright on the OSM maps is © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under a CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence).

Please note that the OSM maps used as templates for these maps correspond to the situation at the time the maps were downloaded and may show features that did not exist at the time the GS Tram Site is supposed to show. In particular, they may show bridges and highways that were built later.

ABBREVIATIONS ON THE MAPS

ROUTES

URBAN TRAM ROUTES

Operator: Société des transports intercommunaux bruxellois (STIB) / Maatschappij voor het Intercommunaal Vervoer te Brussel (MIVB)

INTERURBAN (VICINAL) TRAM ROUTES

Operator: Société nationale des chemins de fer vicinaux (SNCV) / Nationale Maatschappij van Buurtspoorwegen (NMVB)

NB (1): Some route designation letters are duplicated. They are distinguished by numbers (e.g. W (1), W (2)). These numbers are not shown on the maps.

NB (2): Rural vicinal lines are shown on the extended Brussels region map for indicative purposes, but had no route numbers and are not listed above.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM

NETWORK LENGTH

• Urban trams: 239 km.
• Vicinal trams: ? km

HISTORY

• Urban trams: (horse-drawn) 1 May 1869 - ?; (steam) 1879 - ?; (electric) 1 May 1894 - today.
• Interurban trams: (steam) 8 Sept. 1887 - 25 July 1937; (electric) 21 June 1894 - 31 July 1978.
• Métro: (pré-métro) 1969 - today; (true métro) 20 Sept. 1976 - today.

GAUGE

• Trams (TB, then STIB): 1435 mm.
• Trams (CFE): 1000 mm.
• Interurban trams (SNCV): 1000 mm.
• Métro: 1435 mm.

TRAM PRESERVATION

The Brussels Tram Museum (Le musée du Transport Urbain Bruxellois / Het Brussels Trammuseum) in Woluwe has a large number of preserved Brussels trams and runs some of them regularly on the Brussels tram network for tourists.

SOURCES

PRINT

• Brussels: Railway & tramway map. Exeter [England]: Quail Map Co., 1984.
• Davies, W.J.K. The Vicinal story - Light railways in Belgium, 1885-1991. Scarborough [England]: Light Rail Transit Association, 2nd ed., 2006.
• De Meurs, J. "The 1958 World Fair and the Brussels tramways", The Modern Tramway, Sept. 1958 (21:249), p.198-209.
• Decock, P. La STIB quadragénaire: aspects divers d'une histoire mouvementée. Bruxelles. STIB, 1994.
• Hansart, Y.-L. & Skelsey, G. "Brussels: Tramways plan for a rosy future", Tramways & Urban Transit, July 2005 (68:811), p.260-265.
• Historique des lignes des tramways bruxellois. Bruxelles: Musée privé de documentation ferroviaire (MUPDOFER), 1990.
• Kirk, D.D. "Vicinal Route List", Modern Tramway & Light Railway Review, Jan. 1963 (26:301), p.27-28.
• Koenot, L., Justens, S. & Hamal, T. Tram 2000 - Flash 1996. Bruxelles: Hamal, 1996.
• Pulling, N. "Systems Factfile No.50: Brussels, Belgium", Tramways & Urban Transit, Nov. 2011 (74: 887), p.435-438.
• Pulling, N. "Systems Factfile No.178: Brussels, Belgium", Tramways & Urban Transit, Aug. 2022 (85: 1016), p.303-308.
• Skelsey, G. "Brussels tramways: The last three years", Tramways & Urban Transit, Jan. 2002 (64:769), p.12-15.
• Skelsey, G. "The end of the Brussels 7000-class PCCs", Tramways & Urban Transit, Apr. 2010 (73: 868), p.142-143.
• Skelsey, G. "Tramways of the STIB since the Second World War", Tramways & Urban Transit, July 1999 (62:739), p.252-255.
• Skelsey, G & Hansart, Y.-L. "Brussels: Developing the Metro", Tramways & Urban Transit, Apr. 2014 (77: 916), p.165-167.
• Skelsey, G & Hansart, Y.-L. "Still growing: Brussels' tramway expands", Tramways & Urban Transit, March 2014 (77: 915), p.112-116.

WIKIS

• Brussels Metro
• Brusselse premetro
• Musée du transport urbain bruxellois
• Société des transports intercommunaux de Bruxelles (STIB)
• Trams in Brussels
• Vicinal tramway

WEB SITES

• Bruxelles / Brussel (on UrbanRail.Net)
• Société des transports intercommunaux bruxellois (STIB) / Maatschappij voor het Intercommunaal Vervoer te Brussel (MIVB) (Official site)
• Tram - Le musée du Transport Urbain Bruxellois / Het Brussels Trammuseum
• Tram 2000
• TRAMANIA asbl
• Tramways in Belgium - MVB / SNCV

Also, thanks to Guy Cools (from Brussels, Belgium) and Joachim Nijs (from STIB/MIVB in Brussels, Belgium) for information obtained through personal communication.

Copyright Gabor Sandi 1998-2024

Disclaimer: Everything on this site was written and/or prepared at the author's discretion. The author has tried to be accurate where facts are presented, but this does not mean that these facts are necessarily accurate. People needing more reliable information should refer to appropriate sources presented, on the Internet or elsewhere, by authoritative professional or academic bodies.

To get in touch with the webmaster, send an e-mail to g_sandi at hotmail.com.

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