Infrabel (the rail network manager) is taking advantage of the interruption in train traffic between Brussels-Midi and Nivelles during the first week of the Easter holidays to carry out major works in Uccle Moensberg, Waterloo, Braine-Alliance, Braine-l ‘Alleud, Lille and Nivelles. About a hundred Infrabel and Tuc Rail agents are mobilized on the line, where certain worksites are carried out 24 hours a day. In Lille, two new railway bridges will be put into service from 11 April. The objective is to upgrade this section of line 124 to four tracks, to prepare for the arrival of the RER. The new RER schedule, presented in 2019, is respected for the moment except for the portion located between Linkebeek and Rhode-Saint-Genèse, where the permit application has not yet been submitted.
The Minister for Mobility on site
“In the absence of a permit, it is impossible to launch the vast majority of the civil engineering works which consist in creating the space necessary for the laying of two additional lanes and a cycle path as requested by the Flemish Region. This administrative constraint with an impact on the date initially announced (end of 2031): subject to obtaining the permit, the commissioning of the section between Linkebeek and Rhode-Saint-Genèse should take place at the end of 2033, at the earliest. permit should be introduced upon receipt of the GRUP, the equivalent of the Walloon sector plan. The GRUP should be approved by the Flemish Government in December 2022”, indicates Infrabel.
Being able to take the train like you take the metro
In the meantime, the commissioning will be done gradually by section. In Lille this Tuesday, two spectacular projects were presented to the press. At rue de l’Épine Pucelle, a 2,200 tonne bridge is pushed with jacks a few meters from the old structure it is intended to replace.
At rue de la Rivelaine, a bridge has been demolished and three concrete elements are being moved using rolling platforms to replace it, the whole weighing around 2,300 tonnes. The Federal Minister for Mobility, Georges Gilkinet, visited the site on Tuesday morning in the company of the CEOs of Infrabel and Tuc Rail.
“Being able to take the train like you take the metro. This is what I wish for all the inhabitants of ‘Greater Brussels’. Like here in Lille, a station located just 20 km from the Grand-Place. Replacing two railway bridges to go from two to four lanes, these are heavy works that will make the difference. They will make it possible to run more trains, more frequent and faster for the daily travelers attracted by our capital. The RER has been long overdue, it must now be freed up, kilometer following kilometer, for Brussels and its outskirts. That’s what we achieve by making it, mile following mile, a reality“, comments Minister Gilkinet.
