Tram route 4 is an above ground

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

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 ...

. The route runs between the Kioskplaats in the suburb of

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; ) is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's popula ...

in the South, and the Silsburg cemetery on the Deurne/

Wommelgem Wommelgem () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Wommelgem proper. In 2021, Wommelgem had a total population of 12,991. The total area is 13.01 km². Economy Wommelgem i ...

border in the East. The present day itinerary is the result of the merger of the trajectory from the historic route 8 and that from the original route 4 in 2012.

History

Route 4 is one of the oldest tram routes in the city of Antwerp. It was originally built as a part of a

vicinal tramway The National Company of Light Railways (, abbreviated as NMVB; , abbreviated as SNCV) was a state-owned transportation provider which comprised a system of narrow-gauge tramways or local railways in Belgium, which covered the whole country, incl ...

Schelle :''Schelle is also the German name for Šaľa, Slovakia.'' Schelle () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemi ...

and Boom, but was eventually shortened to the itinerary Groenplaats-

after the opening of railway line 52 In 1936, it was merged with route 3 into an itinerary

Merksem Merksem (; former spelling: ''Merxem'') is a district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It has 44,808 inhabitants as of 2021. History The history of Merksem goes back to Gallo-Roman times. During that perio ...

-Central station-Groenplaats-South Station-Hoboken, because too many tram routes had their terminus at the Groenplaats at the time, leading to a chaotic situation. After the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the route again became a separate line. In 1993, it was extended from the Groenplaats to the Sint-Pietersvliet to the North. Due to construction works in the Nationalestraat, the route was shortened to the Hoboken-Marnixplaats trajectory on May 2, 2012. After a redrawing of the network map, route 4 was merged with tram route 8 on February 9, 2013, running between Hoboken to the South and Silsburg to the East. At first, the tram tracks on the Leien were used to connect the two trajectories, but after the reopening of the Nationalestraat on March 30, service via the Nationalestraat and Groenplaats was resumed. On December 6, 2014, the new tram tracks in the Brusselstraat were taken into service, and route 4 now drives between Hoboken and the Nationalestraat via the Bolivarplaats, instead of the Geuzenstraat.

Colour

Route 4 is usually identified by a black number 4 on a light blue background.

Statistics

With a length af 14.55 km and 40 stops, route 4 is currently both the longest tram route, and that with most stops, in

References

{{Reflist

External links

www.delijn.be
the operator of public transport 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 ...

. Tram routes in Antwerp Tram transport in Belgium