| National Railway Company of Belgium | |
| Trade Name: | NMBS/SNCB |
| Native Name: | Dutch; Flemish: Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen French: Société nationale des chemins de fer belges German: Nationale Gesellschaft der Belgischen Eisenbahnen |
| Type: | Statutory corporation |
| Industry: | Rail transportation |
| Foundation: | 1926 |
| Founder: | Government of Belgium |
| Location: | Avenue de la Porte de Hal/Hallepoortlaan 40 |
| Location City: | 1060 Brussels |
| Net Income: | (2022) |
| Num Employees: | 30 000 (2023) |
| Subsid: | BeNe Rail Eurogare Train World (BE) SNCB YPTO |
| Location Country: | Belgium |
The National Railway Company of Belgium (Dutch; Flemish: Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen, NMBS; French: Société nationale des chemins de fer belges, SNCB; German: Nationale Gesellschaft der Belgischen Eisenbahnen) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de Velde consists of the linguistically neutral letter B in a horizontal oval.
NMBS/SNCB is an autonomous government company, formed in 1926 as successor to the Belgian State Railways. From 1942 to 1944, amid Nazi Germany's occupation of Belgium, the company was paid 51 million Belgian francs by the Nazi Germany to send 28 trains carrying 25,843 Jews and Roma people to Auschwitz where only 1,195 survived.[1] The company also sent 16,000 political prisoners to concentration camps.
In 2005, the company was split up into three parts: Infrabel, which manages the railway infrastructure, network operations, and network access, the public railway operator NMBS/SNCB itself to manage the freight (B-Cargo) and passenger services, and NMBS/SNCB-Holding, which owns both public companies and supervises the collaboration between them. Essentially, this was a move to facilitate future liberalisation of railway freight and passenger services in agreement with European regulations. Several freight operators have since received access permissions for the Belgian network. In February 2011, NMBS/SNCB Logistics began operating as a separate business.[2]
Faced with rising losses, in June 2012, the Belgian transport minister announced further reform: NMBS/SNCB Holding would be split up, so NMBS/SNCB (the train operator) would be separate from Infrabel (the infrastructure owner). Unions oppose the reform.[3]
NMBS/SNCB-Holding was merged into NMBS/SNCB in 2014 in order to simplify the structure of the Belgian railways.[4]
NMBS/SNCB holds a Royal Warrant from the Court of Belgium.
In 2008 NMBS/SNCB carried 207 million passengers[5] a total of 8,676 million passenger-kilometres over a network of (of which are electrified, mainly at and at). In 2017, that number rose to 230 million passengers carried,[6] and Belgium has a rail network of of main railway lines (or of mainline tracks).
The network currently includes four high speed lines suitable for 300km/h traffic: HSL 1 runs from just south of Brussels to the French border, where it continues to a triangular junction with LGV Nord for and (and London beyond that), HSL 2 runs from to and onward to, HSL 3 runs from Liège to the German border near Aachen and HSL 4 connects with HSL-Zuid in the Netherlands to allow services to run from to .
Sometimes passengers are not satisfied with the answer of railway companies or passengers do not receive any answer in one month,[7] in which case they can seek the assistance of the Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport.[8]
