At present, there is no full-time public transport link between the city centre and Tour & Taxis, which led to complaints by Flemish functionaries forced to walk from their commute at Gare du Nord to their new offices, though a residential area by the canal which they said made them feel insecure and threatened.
The new tram line will pass by Rue Picard at the side of the site in Molenbeek, to terminate at metro station Belgica, mobility minister Pascal Smet said. There. It will connect to existing tram 51, one of the city’s longest, passing through Molenbeek, Gare du Midi, St-Gilles and Uccle.
The Neder-over-Heembeek line links the Gare du Nord with existing transport lines at Van Praet, and brings a new impetud to an area of the city in full development, with a new research centre by chemical company Solvay linked to the VUB and ULB, as well as a new Bpost package sorting centre as well as the Brugmann hospital and the Queen Astrid military hospital.
The works to create the new lines will take an estimated six years, the government said.
Alan Hope
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