Brussels – Namur railway line

Schaarbeek / Schaerbeek - Namur
Route number :	161
Course book range :	161
Route length:	60 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	3 kV  =
Top speed:	130 km / h
Dual track :	continuous
Operational sites and structures
Legend to Antwerp , Leuven and Liège 0.0 Schaarbeek / Schaerbeek Line 50 to Ghent Brussels north-south connecting railway 0.0 Bruxelles-Nord / Brussel-Noord 1.9 0.9 Y Josaphat, end of route from Brussels-N. Josaphat tunnel 2.3 Rogier Deschanel tunnel Schuman tunnel 4.4 Bruxelles-Schuman-Brussel / Schuman 5.1 Bruxelles-Luxembourg / Brussel-Luxembourg 7.4 Etterbeek → Line 26 to Vilvoorde Line 26 from Halle 9.0 Watermael / Watermaal 10.5 Boitsfoort / Bosvoorde Region border Brussels   - Flanders R0 14.9 Groenendaal 16.3 Hoeilaart Regional border Flanders   - Wallonia 19.6 La Hulpe Genval Rixensart Profondsart Line 139 from Leuven 28.3 Ottignies Line 140 to Charleroi 30.8 Y Louvain-La-Neuve-Université Y Bruyères Line 161D to Louvain-La-Neuve-Université 33.6 Mont-Saint-Guibert 36.2 Blanmont 37.9 Chastre 40.4 Ernage 43.1 Gembloux Line 144 to Jemeppe-sur-Sambre 45.9 Lonzée 48.7 Beuzet 50.7 Saint-Denis-Bovesse 54.2 Rhisnes A14 / E17 Line 130 from Charleroi-Sud 60.1 Namur Line 125 to Liège-Guillemins Meuse Athus-Maas line to Dinant Line 162 to Luxembourg

The Brussels - Namur railway connects the Brussels agglomeration area via Etterbeek , Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve and Gembloux with the Namur agglomeration area on the Meuse . The 62 km long, double-track main line is part of the international connection Brussels - Luxembourg together with the Namur – Luxembourg railway line . As part of the EU -Verkehrsprojektes Eurocaprail an expansion takes both route for travel at a maximum speed of 160 km / h. Together with the Namur - Luxembourg railway line, it represents a part of a north-west-south-east axis that extends from the Netherlands in the north via Belgium and the SaarLorLux region to Switzerland and Italy in the south.

Operation and history

The railway line built by the "Compagnie du Grand-Luxembourg" was opened in several sections:

• August 12, 1854: Brussels-Luxembourg - Terhulpen
• June 9, 1855: Terhulpen - Gembloux
• September 10, 1855: Gembloux - Rhisnes
• April 14, 1856: Rhisnes - Namur

The original terminus station Brussel-Luxemburg was connected to the station Brussel-Noord until October 23, 1856, a connection from the north station to the Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek station took place until September 25, 1874.

In 1873 the "Compagnie du Grand-Luxembourg" was taken over by the SNCB , and between 1872 and 1876 the line was expanded to two tracks. By January 14, 1956, the railway line between Brussel-Noord and Ottignies was electrified (3 kV). Half a year later, on September 30, 1956, the railway line between Ottignies and Namur was also electrified.

Train connections

• EuroCity ( Vauban , Iris formerly Etoile d'Europe , Jean Monnet , Grand-Ducal ):
  • Brussels - Namur - Luxembourg-Strasbourg - Basel - Zurich (- Chur)

• Intercity ( J , M , both lines every hour):
  • Brussels - Namur - Luxembourg
  • Brussels - Namur - Dinant / Liège - Liers

• InterRegio ( l ):
  • Binche - Brussels - Ottignies - Louvain-la-Neuve-Université

• CityRail:
  • Brussels - Ottignies

• L-Trein :
  • Brussels - Ottignies - Louvain-la-Neuve-Université
  • Ottignies - Namur
  • Leuven - Ottignies - Louvain-la-Neuve-Université

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Appendices C.04 and E.1 of the Infrabel Terms of Use ( Memento of October 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Google Maps
3. ↑ 2007-BE-28050-P. Euro Cap Rail on the Brussels-Luxembourg-Strasbourg railway axis. (No longer available online.) Executive Agency for the Trans-European Transport Network, 2012, archived from the original on 13 December 2013 ; Retrieved December 9, 2013 (Belgian section website).