Brussels Train World Museum are planning to launch a new steam engine train that will connect Brussels and Mechelen, on the very same train line that the first steam engine train ran in Europe.
“Our goal is to offer regular steam train rides on the official railway network,” explained Piet Jonckers, director of Train World located in Schaerbeek.
“We hope to be able to launch our first ride by summer 2020. It would be a tremendous tribute to the historical first ride on the European continent, 185 years after its first voyage in 1835,” Jonckers explained, according to New Mobility.
21 meters long and equipped with modern communication and safety systems, the steam train's engine can reach a speed of 120 to 140 kilometres per hour, but it will ride at a speed of 60 to 80 kilometres.
Train World plans to offer journeys on the steam engine one weekend per month once the train has been launched.
The last steam engine train travelled on the Belgian railway network in 1966, from Aat to Denderleeuw in Flanders.
Evie McCullough
The Brussels Times
