The Belgian infrastructure manager Infrabel is reassigning 124.5 million euros from two of the biggest railway projects in the country, which are “temporarily postponed but not cancelled”, to four smaller ones. The two projects ‘losing’ the money are the Ghent-Terneuzen line and the Antwerp-Berchem station.
The postponement of the Ghent-Terneuzen line, which will be key for rail freight as it connects the two ports forming the North Sea Port, will free up 87.5 million euros. The one for the Antwerp-Berchem station will provide 37 million euros. These 124.5 million euros will be added to 52 more million coming from EU subsidies, for a total of 176.5 million euros.
Infrabel did not specify the extent of the postponements for these two projects, but Belgian media Belga reported that they will not start before 2030. Since they were both part of the company’s 2023-2032 investment plan, this money can now be allocated to other initiatives that are at a more advanced stage.
Ports main beneficiaries
Rail freight is still expected to benefit from the transfer of these funds. The largest slice of the pie, 68.7 million, will go to projects aiming at boosting rail freight to and from Belgian ports. The port of Antwerp-Bruges, one of the main European ports, will receive 42.8 million euros for the electrification and the renewal of track bundles and connections, the installation of new switches and the replacement and removal of level crossings.
Despite ‘losing’ money for the connection between Ghent and Terneuzen, North Sea Port will still get 24.4 million euros for the “modernisation of signalling and electrification of track bundles in the port area of Ghent”, Infabel explained. Finally, the port of Ostend, where rail freight recently made a comeback after 15 years, will benefit from 1.5 million euros for “targeted security measures for rail traffic in the vicinity of the port”.
Important rail freight projects
In addition, 67.2 million euros will be earmarked for rail projects across Infrabel’s network. The most important for rail freight here are the deployment of 21.5 million euros to upgrade the infrastructure to accommodate 750-metre trains, especially for military mobility, and 15.6 million euros for the renovation of the Mol-Neerpelt line leading into the Netherlands.
The remaining 30.1 million euros will go to projects focussing more on passenger services. Most of them, 27.5 million euros, will be used to adapt non-electrified line for the passage of battery-powered trains, while 2.6 million euros will help improve accessibility to Pairi Daiza, one Belgium’s main tourist destinations.
