Over a hundred kilometres of tramway rails in Brussels need to be urgently replaced, as they are rapidly deteriorating due to an increase of tramway services, Brussels public transport company said on Monday.
The rails concerned by the potential renovations represent 43% of the city's tramway network, accounting for 120 kilometres of tram rails in total, representatives of Brussels' public transport operator STIB said during the meeting on Monday evening.
The officials said that there had been a spike in tram-related incidents due to a "structural and accelerated" deterioration of the rails due to an increase of the number of trams put in service in the city during past years.
"These factors risk affecting the quality of transport services," which would be "unacceptable — both regarding transport availability and operational safety," a statement by the company, reads, according to French-speaking daily La Dernière Heure.
Between 2007 and 2022, the number of kilometres travelled by Brussels' trams will have increased by an estimated 30%, with the number of detorations and damages made to the city's tram rails already increasing.
The Brussels Times
