In the midst of the media quarrel over the Brussels metro extension, first alderman of the City of Brussels Benoit Hellings (Ecolo) revives the "Brussels Express Network" (BWR) project in La Dernière Heure and on La Libre website. The train is "an open subway across the Brussels Region," the environmentalist highlights. "The Infrabel network over the Brussels territory is extraordinary. There are 29 widely under-exploited stations. Today, only 1% of train travel is within the Brussels Region. Our aim is to reach 15 % of the traffic in five years."
To get there, the alderman thinks of STIB, the Brussels transport company, which could operate trains on the Infrabel network. "SNCB does not do it because of budgetary issues. One can well imagine the STIB buying rolling stock. We would then have a real opportunity to quickly offer a public transport alternative to the private car on existing networks."
Ecolo-Groen is not against the underground, he points out. "We are just giving our opinion. We have serious reservations about the consequences that such an ill-thought construction site (the north/south metro project, Ed.) may bear on the lives of residents, merchants, and other businesses on Avenue Stalingrad and in its area."
The Brussels Times
