The spokesman for Infrabel, Frédéric Sacré, confirmed on Friday morning, “We are doing everything we can to re-establish full rail traffic operation for Monday September 18th.” This comes after a burst water pipe, in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, caused flooding of the railway platforms between the Brussels North and Brussels-Schuman stations.
Frédéric Sacré explained, “Our teams have worked throughout the night to remove one hundred cubic metres of sand which spread across the platforms in the incident. The work, being carried out with the aid of shovels and a small crane, is still far from being finished.”
He went on, once the sand has been cleared, “we will still have to dismantle the platforms over a length of 200 to 300 metres and replace the bed of stones upon which they rest.”
The works should last around ten days. During this period, train traffic will remain interrupted between Brussels-North and Brussels-Schuman.
However, diversions have been put in place. IC (Inter-City) trains, effecting the major links, serve the Brussels-Midi, Brussels-Central and Brussels-North, before continuing their journey to Leuven and returning to Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve. Slow trains leaving from Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve travel to Brussels-Luxembourg.
In these exceptional circumstances, commuters can use the STIB buses between Brussels-Central and Brussels-Luxembourg, upon presenting a valid SNCB transport ticket. The same applies for metros linking Brussels-Central and Brussels-Schuman. Passengers are advised to consult the SNCB Internet site or the SNCB smartphone application to plan their itinerary.
The Brussels Times
