HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The HSL 2 (, ) is a Belgian high-speed rail line between
Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...
and Ans (near
Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
) and is long, all of it on dedicated high-speed tracks, which began service on 15 December 2002. As part of the Belgian railway network, it is owned, technically operated and maintained by Infrabel. Since the extension to the German border was completed (the HSL 3), the fastest journey time between Brussels South and Cologne Central Station is 1 hour and 47 minutes. HSL 2 is used by Thalys and
ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...
trains as well as fast internal Belgian Railways
InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
services.


Route

From Brussels South, trains travel northwards over Line 0 through Central and
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
stations. At Schaarbeek the route splits in two; northward bound trains continue over line 25N, line 25,
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
and HSL 4 to the Dutch border, eastward bound trains continue over line 36N, line 2 and line 36 to
Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
and from there over line 37 and HSL 3 and again line 37 to the German border. Between Schaarbeek and
Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...
there are four tracks; the two outer tracks, line 36, permit travel at . The two central tracks, line 36N, were planned for direct service and trainsets equipped with ETCS 1 are now allowed to travel at . At Leuven, trains pass through the existing station at . Just outside, HSL 2 proper commences with a speed initially limited to . After the Bierbeek tunnel (758 m), maximum speed is increased to alongside the E40 motorway. Over the last few kilometers, curbing away from the E40, speed is limited to . Quitting HSL 2, trains run to Ans station at . Between Ans and Liège-Guillemins station, passenger trains run on the modernised line 36 at a speed of (downwards to Liège) or (EMUs upwards to Ans).


Other

HSL 2 is used by
Thalys PBKA PBKA is a High-speed rail, high-speed trainset, manufactured by the French company Alstom, GEC-Alsthom, and used on the international Eurostar service. Originally built for Thalys (which later merged with Eurostar) they were intended to operate ...
sets,
ICE Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...
3neo
EMU The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...
s on international services, and domestic InterCity services run by sets of Class 18 or Class 13 locomotives with I6, I10 or (mostly) I11 carriages. Trains with the new SNCB Class 18 locomotives appeared on the line. probably in 2010. The DB Velaro D (BR407) was planned to use the route on its way to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, however these plans have since been shelved due to technical and financial problems, and it is unknown if the units will find use on the current ICE International services from Brussels to Germany. Maintenance bases for the line are situated at
Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...
and Ans. ETCS 1 has been installed on the HSL 2. It is operated from Block 12 in Brussels. HSL 2 is
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
, double track, electrified at 25 kV, 50 Hz AC.


See also

* High-speed rail in Belgium * Rail transport in Belgium


References


External links


Belrail: info on TBL 2 (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsl 2 High-speed railway lines in Belgium Railway lines opened in 2002 Standard-gauge railways in Belgium 2002 establishments in Belgium Railway lines in Flanders Railway lines in Wallonia lb:LGV Bréissel - Däitsch Grenz