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In 1870, the Belgian state owned 863 kilometres (536 mi) of rail lines, while the private enterprises owned 2,231 kilometres (1,386 mi). From 1870 to 1882, the railways were gradually nationalised. In 1912, 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) were state property compared to 300 kilometres (190 mi) private lines.
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.
Passenger rail services in Belgium are operated by NMBS/SNCB. The Belgian rail network is organised into three main domestic passenger train categories on the main lines, these are: 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 ...
Belgian Railways may refer to: Rail transport in Belgium; National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB/NMBS) (est. 1926), the national railway operator of Belgium;
Following the Belgian Revolution of 1830, when Belgium split from the Netherlands, Belgium became a key site of railway development.In 1831, a proposal to build a railway between Antwerp and Cologne (in neighbouring Prussia) which would link the industrializing Ruhr and Meuse valleys with the ports of the Scheldt was considered by the Chamber of Representatives but was eventually rejected.
Transport in Belgium is facilitated with well-developed road, air, rail and water networks. The rail network has 2,950 km (1,830 mi) of electrified tracks. [ 1 ] There are 118,414 km (73,579 mi) of roads, among which there are 1,747 km (1,086 mi) of motorways, 13,892 km (8,632 mi) of main roads and 102,775 km (63,861 mi) of other paved roads. [ 2 ]
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. [2]
A Belgian State Railways Type 51 in restored livery at Train World (Brussels). The Belgian State Railways (Dutch: Belgische Staatsspoorwegen [ˈbɛlɣisə ˈstaːtspoːrˌʋeːɣə(n)]; French: Chemins de fer de l'État Belge [ʃəmɛ̃ də fɛʁ də leta bɛlʒ]) was the original state-owned railway of Belgium.