De Lijn
| De Lijn | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Basic information | |
| Company headquarters | Mechelen |
| Web presence | www.delijn.be |
| Employee | 8500 |
| number of vehicles | |
| Tram cars | 360 |
| Omnibuses | 2250 |
| statistics | |
| Passengers | 483.2 million per year |
| Residents in the catchment area |
6.6 million |
Transport company De Lijn (pronounced “de läin”) is a Belgian regional passenger transport company. It operates an extensive bus network and several trams in the Flemish provinces in Belgium.
Sometimes De Lijn refers to the coastal tram (operated by the De Lijn transport company) . This tram line connects the places on the Flemish North Sea coast and is the longest tram line in the world.
De Lijn emerged as part of the Belgian regionalization in 1991 from the National Small Railroad Company (NLNNNMVB, French SNCV), which was the largest provider of passenger transport in Belgium alongside the Belgian State Railways (NMBS / SNCB) . At the same time the company Transport en Commun , or TEC for short , was created for the Walloon Region . The STIB / MIVB had already been founded for the Brussels-Capital region . De Lijn took over the transport network, the employees and also the vehicle fleet of the predecessor company in the Flemish parts of the country. The local transport companies of the cities of Antwerp and Ghent were also merged in De Lijn .
The most important part of the operation is by far the bus operation, which includes both inner-city and overland traffic as well as connections between larger towns over medium distances (as a supplement to the railway network ). Most of the formerly extensive light rail and tram network of the predecessor company was no longer in operation when De Lijn was founded.
As a rail-bound mode of transport, De Lijn still maintains:
- the tram and light rail in Antwerp
- the tram in Ghent
- the Kusttram , a tram line connecting the villages along the Flemish North Sea coast combines
De Lijn also operated the Ghent trolleybus in the city of Ghent from 1989 to 2009 , it was the last trolleybus operator in Belgium to date .
In 2007, the vehicle fleet comprised around 360 trams and around 2,250 regular buses including the 18 trolleybuses in Ghent. In 2003, De Lijn carried around 362 million passengers with a population in the service area of around 6.5 million people; in 2007 it was already around 483.2 million.
Web links
- Homepage De Lijn (German)
- Homepage De Lijn (Dutch)