Tram route 11 is an above ground tram route in the city of

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 ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It currently runs between the Antwerpen-Berchem railway station and the Melkmarkt in the city centre.

History

Originally, the route was operated as a horse-drawn omnibus route running between the Grote Markt and the

Zurenborg Zurenborg is an area in south-east Antwerp largely developed between 1894 and 1906 that features a high concentration of townhouses in Art Nouveau and other fin-de-siècle styles.Alex Elaut, ''Zurenborg Walk'', Antwerp: Toerisme Antwerpen, .d. ...

neighborhood. At the start of the 20th century, the line was electrified and extended to the Eksterlaar neighborhood. Until the end of 1964, route 11 operated between Antwerp-Central station and Eksterlaar. Beginning January 1, 1965, the route was extended to the Melkmarkt, after tram route 16 (Melkmarkt-Luchtbal) was canceled. During a part of the 1990s, trams on route 11 used the premetro network via the entrance at the Mercatorstraat, due to construction works at the Ommeganckstraat. The TTB organization, representing commuters in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, proposed in it plans to shorten route 11 to the Melkmarkt-Antwerpen-Berchem trajectory, and introduce a new tram route 18, running between the Melkmarkt and the Luchtbal neighborhood using the premetro network. This part of the plan was not executed at the time, however a new tram route 6 was introduced in 2006, connecting the Luchtbal and Olympiade neighborhoods. Following a redrawing of the Antwerp tram network on September 1, 2012, the route was eventually shortened to the Melkmarkt-Antwerpen-Berchem itinerary. A new route 9 since then connects the Eksterlaar terminus with Linkeroever via the southern and central premetro axes. At the same time, the frequency of service on the line was also reduced.

Future

There exist plans to extend either route 9 or 11 in the future to a new terminus at

Borsbeek Borsbeek () is a district and former municipality in Antwerp, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. History Borsbeek was first mentioned in 1232. In 1264, it becomes an independent parish. Until the 16th century, it was part of the County of Cant ...

, or at Antwerp Airport in Deurne.

Rolling stock

The route is mostly operated by single PCC cars, with newer

HermeLijn The Ghent tramway network () is a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Ghent, a city in the Flemish Region of Belgium, with a total of four lines (T1, T2, T3 and T4). Since 1991, the network has been operated by De L ...

trams being used only occasionally.

Colour

Historically, tram route 11 has always been marked by either a red background or a red font. On October 27, 2007, the colors were changed to a white font on a turquoise background. However, these were later reverted to the original red letters on a white background, after commuters complained that the turquoise was too similar to the green used by tram route 10.

References

{{Reflist

External links

www.delijn.be
the operator of public transport in

Public transport in Antwerp

Rail transport in Antwerp