Belgium High-speed rail in Europe

high-speed rail network in belgium

belgium s rail network served 4 high-speed train operators: thalys, eurostar, ice , tgv trains. of them serve brussels south (midi) station, belgium s largest railway station. thalys trains, variant of french tgv, operate between belgium, germany (dortmund), netherlands (amsterdam) , france (paris). since 2007, eurostar has connected brussels london st pancras, before which, trains connected london waterloo. german ice operates between brussels, liège , frankfurt hbf.

the hsl 1 belgian high-speed railway line connects brussels french border. 88 km long (71 km dedicated high-speed tracks, 17 km modernised lines), began service on 14 december 1997. line has appreciably shortened rail journeys, journey paris brussels taking 1:22. in combination lgv nord, has affected international journeys france , london, ensuring high-speed through-running eurostar, tgv, thalys pba , thalys pbka trainsets. total construction cost €1.42 billion.

the hsl 2 belgian high-speed rail line between brussels , liège, 95 km long (61 km dedicated high-speed tracks between leuven , ans, 34 km modernised lines between brussels , leuven , between ans , liège) began service on 15 december 2002. extension german border (the hsl 3) in use, combined high-speed line accelerates journeys between brussels, paris , germany. hsl 2 used thalys , ice trains fast internal intercity services.

the hsl 3 belgian high-speed railway line connects liège german border. 56 km long (42 km dedicated high-speed tracks, 14 km modernised lines), began service on 13 december 2009. hsl 3 used international thalys , ice trains only, opposed hsl 2 used fast internal intercity services.

the hsl 4 belgian high-speed railway line connects brussels dutch border. 87 km long (40 km dedicated high-speed tracks, 57 km modernised lines). hsl 4 used thalys trains since 13 december 2009 , used starting 2010 fast internal intercity trains. between brussels , antwerp (47 km), trains travel @ 160 km/h on upgraded existing line (with exception of few segments speed limit of 120 km/h imposed). @ e19/a12 motorway junction, trains leave regular line run on new dedicated high-speed tracks dutch border (40 km) @ 300 km/h.

the completion of channel tunnel rail link (high speed 1) , completion of lines brussels amsterdam , cologne led news reports in november 2007 both eurostar , deutsche bahn pursuing direct services london amsterdam , cologne. both journeys under 4 hours, length considered competitive air travel.