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The Brussels-Capital Region is bilingual; hence, both the French and Dutch names of the station— Bruxelles-Nord and Brussel-Noord —are official. Outside Belgium, this often leads to the use of combined shorthands; for example in the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable, Brussels-North is designated as Brussels Nord / Noord; NS (Dutch Railways) announce the station as Brussel Noord/Nord.
All railway lines in Belgium are identified by a route number and these numbers are in widespread general use (for example, in passenger train timetables). Most of the numbers have remained unchanged since the creation of the SNCB/NMBS in the 1920s, although line closures and the construction of new routes have led to a few alterations over the years.
Brussels-North, Brussels-Central and Brussels-South are now the three main railways stations in the city; they are also the three busiest stations in all of Belgium. Between 2018 and 2019, the North–South connection's tunnel was renovated to improve ventilation and smoke extraction in the event of a fire.
Roads in Brussels range from highways leading to neighbouring countries or cities (the European routes E40, E411 and E19 plus the A12 and A201 highways) to national roads, major roads down to local streets. Brussels is surrounded by the Brussels Ring, and is crossed by two smaller orbital roads: the Greater Ring and the Small Ring.
Intercity (IC) trains–An express, limited-stop service, often calling only at major railway stations; in some cases it has stops at all stations along part of the route. Local (L) trains (Lokale treinen / trains Locaux)–A local service calling at all stations along the route.
Many of the mainlines were operated by the Belgian State Railways. Within ten years of its first railway, Belgium had more than 560 kilometres (350 mi) of railway lines, 80 stations, 143 locomotives and 25,000 pieces of rolling stock. [4] Belgium's first telegraph line was installed in 1846 along the Brussels-Antwerp railway. [10]
A recent addition is line 25N, which branches off south of Mechelen to follow the E19 motorway into the Diabolo to Brussels Airport.As of 2019, works are underway to extend this line 25N through the Mechelen station, adding two platforms, to rejoin the "regular" line 25 North of Nekkerspoel station. [2]
Between 1923 and 1933, line 50A was extended to Brussels, which provides a fast connection between Brussels and Ghent. [2] Where the original line 50 enters Brussels from the north, after passing through Aalst , the latter 50A enters Brussels from the south; this allows through trains from the west of the country to the east or vice versa ...