Belgian railway line 36

The Belgian railway line 36 is a railway line in Belgium connecting Brussels to Liège. Completed in 1866, the line runs 99.3 km. Trains running between Brussels and Aachen in Germany use the line as far as Liège, and then line 37 between Liège and the German border, the last stop in Belgium being Welkenraedt.

Belgian railway line 36
A Thalys train on line 36 in 2006
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Belgium
Termini	Brussels-North railway station Liège-Guillemins railway station
Service
Services	Belgian railway line 36 Line from Brussels-South 0.0 Brussels-North Line from Namur Line to Ghent 2.4 Schaarbeek Line to Antwerp 5.5 Haren-Zuid Line Halle–Vilvoorde 7.0 Diegem 9.4 Zaventem to Brussels Airport 12.0 Nossegem 14.7 Kortenberg 17.8 Erps-Kwerps 21.1 Veltem 24.0 Herent to Aarschot from Mechelen from Aarschot 28.8 Leuven to Ottignies HSL 2 to Liège 40.0 Vertrijk 47.4 Tienen 53.8 Ezemaal 57.0 Neerwinden 60.7 Landen to Hasselt 74.5 Waremme 77.2 Bleret 79.8 Remicourt 83.2 Momalle 85.4 Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher 87.8 Voroux-Goreux freight line to Angleur 89.9 Bierset-Awans HSL 2 from Leuven 93.4 Ans from Tongeren 99.9 Liège-Guillemins Line to Namur River Meuse to Seraing Line to Maastricht Line to Aachen
Operator(s)	National Railway Company of Belgium
History
Opened	1837-1866
Technical
Line length	100 km (62 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 Line from Brussels-South 0.0 Brussels-North Line from Namur Line to Ghent 2.4 Schaarbeek Line to Antwerp 5.5 Haren-Zuid Line Halle–Vilvoorde 7.0 Diegem 9.4 Zaventem to Brussels Airport 12.0 Nossegem 14.7 Kortenberg 17.8 Erps-Kwerps 21.1 Veltem 24.0 Herent to Aarschot from Mechelen from Aarschot 28.8 Leuven to Ottignies HSL 2 to Liège 40.0 Vertrijk 47.4 Tienen 53.8 Ezemaal 57.0 Neerwinden 60.7 Landen to Hasselt 74.5 Waremme 77.2 Bleret 79.8 Remicourt 83.2 Momalle 85.4 Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher 87.8 Voroux-Goreux freight line to Angleur 89.9 Bierset-Awans HSL 2 from Leuven 93.4 Ans from Tongeren 99.9 Liège-Guillemins Line to Namur River Meuse to Seraing Line to Maastricht Line to Aachen

Between Schaerbeek and Leuven, the line is 4-track; the outer tracks serve local trains with many stops, while the central tracks carry intercity and high-speed trains; these are called L36N, and branch off after Leuven onto a separate route that mostly follows the E40 motorway towards Liege. The Diabolo project connects L36 to the station under Brussels Airport.

The following stations are located on the line:

• Brussels-North
• Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek
• Haren-South
• Diegem
• Zaventem
• Brussels Airport-Zaventem
• Kortenberg
• Erps-Kwerps
• Veltem
• Herent
• Leuven
• Vertrijk
• Tienen
• Ezemaal
• Neerwinden
• Landen
• Waremme
• Bleret
• Remicourt
• Momalle
• Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher
• Voroux-Goreux
• Bierset-Awans
• Ans
• Liège-Guillemins

Inclined Planes of Liège

Between Ans and Liège, the railway line has to descend 109 m (358 ft) within less than 8 km (5 mi). This steep incline was initially negotiated with the help of a fixed engine driving an endless rope that was used to haul the trains without the help of a locomotive. After the late 1860s, special banking locomotives were used and the fixed engine was discarded. Another line (line 36A) was built to bypass the incline, but this line is only used by freight trains.

When line 36 was electrified in 1955, most of the trains still needed a banking engine. Currently, some trains are powerful enough to climb the incline without a helper and the rest are provided with two locomotives. The rear engine is no longer removed at Ans in order to save time.