Belgian railway line 96

Belgian railway line 96
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Belgium
Termini	Brussels-South railway station Mons railway station
Operation
Opened	1840-1858
Operator(s)	National Railway Company of Belgium
Technical
Line length	85 km (53 mi)
Number of tracks	double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3 kV DC
Route map Legend Line from Brussels-North 0.0 Brussels-South to Schaerbeek Line to Charleroi Line to Ostend 3.9 Forest-South 6.0 Ruisbroek 9.1 Lot 11.1 Buizingen Line from Schaerbeek 13.6 Halle Line to Tournai 16.0 Lembeek HSL 1 to Paris freight line to Clabecq 18.7 Tubize freight line to Quenast 23.7 Hennuyères 29.6 Braine-le-Comte to Luttre 35.8 Soignies 41.1 Neufvilles 44.8 Masnuy-Saint-Pierre to Ath 48.6 Jurbise 51.6 Erbisœul 54.6 Ghlin from Charleroi 60.3 Mons to Valenciennes freight line to Harmignies 67.1 Frameries 69.4 Genly 74.9 Quévy 75.5 233.1 border Belgium/France from Bavay to Jeumont Line from Jeumont 223.9 Hautmont Line to Paris

The Belgian railway line 96 is a railway line in Belgium connecting Brussels to Quévy at the border with France. A railway line then connects Quévy to Paris, France, which forms the old Brussels-Paris railway line. The line is used by TGV, Thalys trains and Eurostar trains between Brussels and Lembeek.

The first section of line 96 opened in 1840 between Brussels and Tubize.^[1] The final section between Hautmont and the Belgian-French border was opened in 1858.^[2]

The following stations are located on this line:

• Brussels-South
• Forest-South
• Ruisbroek
• Lot
• Buizingen
• Halle
• Lembeek
• Tubize
• Hennuyères
• Braine-le-Comte
• Soignies
• Neufvilles
• Masnuy-Saint-Pierre
• Jurbise
• Erbisoeul
• Ghlin
• Mons
• Cuesmes
• Frameries
• Genly
• Quévy

Accidents

In 2010, two trains collided on the line 96, near Halle train station, causing 19 deaths.

References

1. http://www.belrail.be/F/infrastructure/lignes/096.html
2. Direction Générale des Ponts et Chaussées et des Chemins de Fer (1869). Statistique centrale des chemins de fer. Chemins de fer français. Situation au 31 décembre 1869 (in French). Paris: Ministère des Travaux Publics. pp. 146–160.