Belgian railway line 36 (original) (raw)

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Railway line between Brussels and Liège, Belgium

Belgian railway line 36
A Thalys train on line 36 in 2006
Overview
Status Operational
Locale Belgium
Termini Brussels-North railway stationLiège-Guillemins railway station
Service
Services Belgian railway line 36 Legend Line from Brussels-South enlarge… 0.0 Brussels-North Line from Namur Line to Ghent 2.4 Schaarbeek Line to Antwerp enlarge… 5.5 Haren-Zuid Line Halle–Vilvoorde 7.0 Diegem 9.4 Zaventem to Brussels Airport 12.0 Nossegem 14.7 Kortenberg 17.8 Erps-Kwerps 21.1 Veltem 24.0 Herent to Aarschot from Mechelen from Aarschot 28.8 Leuven to Ottignies HSL 2 to Liège enlarge… 40.0 Vertrijk 47.4 Tienen 53.8 Ezemaal 57.0 Neerwinden 60.7 Landen to Hasselt 74.5 Waremme 77.2 Bleret 79.8 Remicourt 83.2 Momalle 85.4 Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher 87.8 Voroux-Goreux freight line to Angleur 89.9 Bierset-Awans HSL 2 from Leuven enlarge… 93.4 Ans from Tongeren 99.9 Liège-Guillemins Line to Namur River Meuse to Seraing Line to Maastricht Line to Aachen enlarge… This diagram: viewtalkedit
Operator(s) National Railway Company of Belgium
History
Opened 1837-1866
Technical
Line length 100 km (62 mi)
Number of tracks double track
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification 3 kV DC
Route map Legend Line from Brussels-South enlarge… 0.0 Brussels-North Line from Namur Line to Ghent 2.4 Schaarbeek Line to Antwerp enlarge… 5.5 Haren-Zuid Line Halle–Vilvoorde 7.0 Diegem 9.4 Zaventem to Brussels Airport 12.0 Nossegem 14.7 Kortenberg 17.8 Erps-Kwerps 21.1 Veltem 24.0 Herent to Aarschot from Mechelen from Aarschot 28.8 Leuven to Ottignies HSL 2 to Liège enlarge… 40.0 Vertrijk 47.4 Tienen 53.8 Ezemaal 57.0 Neerwinden 60.7 Landen to Hasselt 74.5 Waremme 77.2 Bleret 79.8 Remicourt 83.2 Momalle 85.4 Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher 87.8 Voroux-Goreux freight line to Angleur 89.9 Bierset-Awans HSL 2 from Leuven enlarge… 93.4 Ans from Tongeren 99.9 Liège-Guillemins Line to Namur River Meuse to Seraing Line to Maastricht Line to Aachen enlarge… This diagram: viewtalkedit

The Belgian railway line 36 is a railway line in Belgium connecting Brussels to Liège. Completed in 1866, the line runs 99.3 km.[1] Trains running between Brussels and Aachen in Germany use the line as far as Liège, and then line 37 between Liège and the German border, the last stop in Belgium being Welkenraedt.[2]

Between Schaerbeek and Leuven, the line is 4-track; the outer tracks serve local trains with many stops, while the central tracks carry intercity and high-speed trains; these are called L36N, and branch off after Leuven onto a separate route that mostly follows the E40 motorway towards Liege. The Diabolo project connects L36 to the station under Brussels Airport.

The following stations are located on the line:

Inclined Planes of Liège

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Between Ans and Liège, the railway line has to descend 109 m (358 ft) within less than 8 km (5 mi). This steep incline was initially negotiated with the help of a fixed engine driving an endless rope that was used to haul the trains without the help of a locomotive.[3] After the late 1860s, special banking locomotives were used and the fixed engine was discarded. Another line (line 36A) was built to bypass the incline, but this line is only used by freight trains.[4]

When line 36 was electrified in 1955, most of the trains still needed a banking engine. Currently, some trains are powerful enough to climb the incline without a helper and the rest are provided with two locomotives. The rear engine is no longer removed at Ans in order to save time.

  1. ^ "Ligne 36: Bruxelles-Nord - Liège-Guillemins". BelRail.be.
  2. ^ "Ligne 37: Liège-Guillemins - Hergenrath - (D)". BelRail.be.
  3. ^ The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal: Exhibiting a View of the Progressive Discoveries and Improvements in the Sciences and the Arts. A. and C. Black. 1845.
  4. ^ "Les plans inclinés de Liège - Rixke Rail's Archives". rixke.tassignon.be (in French). Retrieved 2018-11-08.