Belgian railway line 25

The Belgian railway line 25 is the oldest railway line in Belgium. It connects the main two cities in Belgium: Brussels and Antwerp. The section between Brussels and Mechelen was completed in on May 5, 1835 and was the first railroad in Belgium. On May 3, 1836, the second section (between Mechelen and Antwerp) was opened. It was extended to Luchtbal in the north of Antwerp in 2007 in order to shorten the route from Amsterdam to Brussels. The total line runs 47.6 km.[1]

Belgian railway line 25
NMBS 809 (type MS75) arrives at platform 4 of Mechelen Nekkerspoel station in 2012
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Belgium
Termini	Brussels-North railway station Antwerpen-Luchtbal railway station
Operation
Opened	1835-2007
Operator(s)	National Railway Company of Belgium
Technical
Line length	48 km (30 mi)
Number of tracks	double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3 kV DC
Route map Line from Brussels-South 0.0 Brussels-North Line from Namur Line to Ghent 2.4 Schaarbeek Line to Leuven Line to Halle 7.3 Buda from Leuven 9.4 Vilvoorde 13.6 Eppegem to Muizen 15.9 Weerde from Dendermonde 20.4 Mechelen to Leuven 22.0 Mechelen-Nekkerspoel 26.5 Sint-Katelijne-Waver River Nete 28.9 Duffel to Lier 33.8 Kontich 36.2 Hove to Mortsel 38.1 Mortsel-Oude-God 39.7 Mortsel-Deurnesteenweg from Mortsel from Lier Line from Ghent 42.8 Antwerpen-Berchem Line to Roosendaal 43.8 Antwerpen-Centraal Line from Antwerpen-Centraal Albert Canal 47.6 Antwerpen-Luchtbal HSL 4 to Rotterdam Line to Roosendaal

Over most of its length it is paralleled by line 27 so that 4 tracks are available. During business hours, line 25 serves fast trains while local trains use line 27.

The line goes through the following stations:

• Brussels-North
• Schaarbeek
• Buda
• Vilvoorde
• Eppegem
• Weerde
• Mechelen
• Mechelen-Nekkerspoel
• Sint-Katelijne-Waver
• Duffel
• Kontich
• Hove
• Mortsel-Oude-God
• Mortsel
• Antwerpen-Berchem
• Antwerpen-Central
• Antwerpen-Luchtbal

L25N

A recent addition is line 25N, which branches off south of Mechelen to follow the E19 motorway into the Diabolo to Brussels National 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] L25N has 25 kV electric power, and allows speeds up to 220 km/h.

References

1. "Ligne 25 : Bruxelles-Nord - Antwerpen-Centraal". BelRail.be. 10 August 2007.
2. Transformatie Mechelse stationsomgeving definitief van start, 7 januari 2013, Knack

• Local language network overview