Rail Travel in Belgium

Below is a detailed map of the railways of Belgium. You can zoom in by using the +/- buttons or by using the wheel on your mouse whilst hovering over the map.

The map has been extracted from the Railway Map of Europe with kind permission of the publishers.
You can purchase copies of the full map, as well as rail timetables, from The European Railway Timetable website

BELGIUM

The country has a dense rail network, mainly electrified, and most longer-distance trains pass through Brussels which, since 1952, has a north/south tunnel with three main stations. All lines have a frequent regular interval service with faster IC trains serving the principal stations and local trains serving all stations.

Reservations are not possible on domestic trains but are compulsory on some long-distance international services and on some of these, such as Thalys, a supplement is also payable.

The national network is run by NMBS / SNCB (see link below). Remember that Dutch and French are the two main languages. The local public transport services (De Lijn in Flanders, STIB in Brussels and TEC in Wallonia) are well integrated with the trains. Smaller stations may be unstaffed, but there are also ticket vending machines. Purchase of tickets on the trains is discouraged. You must tell the conductor as soon as possible if you want to buy a ticket, and pay a 6 euro surcharge (unless you boarded at a station with no functioning ticket machine.)

Standard fares at the week end are much cheaper than on week-days. There are also considerable discounts on standard fares for anyone over 65 or under 26.

INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS: High speed lines run for most of the way from the UK, French, Dutch and German borders to Brussels. The Amsterdam – Brussels Intercity service also serves Zaventem the National Airport.

For visitors from the UK it is possible to buy a Eurostar ticket to/from “Any Belgian station” for a small surcharge.

BICYCLES:

All trains have a reasonable amount of space for bicycles. For a small supplement bicycles can be taken on a return day trip between any 2 stations in Belgium.

MOBILITY ASSISTANCE:

This can be booked at up to 131 stations, by phone or on-line.

TG July 2021