Belgian railway line 26 explained

Box Width:300px
Belgian railway line 26
Status:Operational
Locale:Belgium
Start:Schaerbeek railway station
End:Halle railway station
Open:1926-1930
Operator:National Railway Company of Belgium
Linelength:28km (17miles)
Map State:collapsed

The Belgian railway line 26 is a railway line in Belgium connecting Brussels to Halle. It opened on 19 July 1926 between Schaerbeek and Watermael railway stations. The line was completed on 3 January 1930.[1] It was built to bypass Brussels before the 1952 North–South connection existed.

Today, all passenger trains using the line travel from Vilvoorde on a branch line called 26/1 and not from Schaerbeek, to various destinations south of Brussels. The line carries (parts of) several services of the GEN/RER: S4, S5, S7, S9. Some of these use the Schuman-Josaphat tunnel, which branches off just south of Meiser station.

The line serves the following stations:

Schaarbeek-Josaphat is no longer an operational station, it was a freight yard very near the present Evere railway station.Etterbeek-Cinquantenaire was also a freight station, now closed and (mostly) filled in.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ligne 26: Schaerbeek - Halle. BelRail.be.