The Brussels government has stated firmly that the tunnel proposed as part of the city's new metro line 3 will indeed pass beneath the iconic Palais du Midi, despite complications that have been raised by the geological consistency.
Speaking during a parliamentary mobility commission on Tuesday, Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt affirmed that there would be no changes to the initial plan, which will connect the planned Toots Thielemans station with the existing Anneessens stop. The works should have been completed in February but the subsurface has presented unforeseen challenges.
The delay has seen the building consortium Besix-Jan Denul-Francqui clash with the city's public transport provider STIB, the consortium insisting that major work must be carried out in order to make the tunnel possible. There has even been talk of dismantling the roof of the Palais du Midi to finish the project.
Due to technical difficulties, the Besix-Jan Denul-Francqui consortium stopped digging the 120-metre connection in mid-2021. It estimated that the works would cost an additional €170 million to complete and envisaged a delay of eight years. The building's supporting pillars have turned out to be not strong enough due to the damp earth.
On Tuesday, Van den Brandt received a series of questions about the construction site near the Brussels Midi/Zuid Station, as the commission received a technical overview of the file from public transport company STIB last week, Belga News Agency reports.
Palais du Midi has for months been flanked by a construction site on the Stalingrad Avenue side. It was previously announced that the costs for the construction of the new metro line 3 have already risen by €400 million, February 2023. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
Van den Brandt emphasised the government's unwavering support for STIB and argued that the construction companies had been clearly informed about the risks of the geological structure of the subsoil. Two possible solutions are now being investigated, the minister indicated.
This could either see the works carried out as first planned, making allowance for reasonable extra costs to overcome the current difficulties. Alternatively, a section of the Palais du Midi might be dismantled (to be rebuilt later and whilst preserving the facades). This would allow the tunnel to be built in the open air.
Van den Brandt shared the concerns of both opposition and majority committee members about the impact of the works on local traders, sports clubs and others who use the Palais du Midi. However she stressed that construction had reached a "point of no return".
The line will run from Albert metro station in Saint-Gilles to the North Station. 22% of the planned €732 million had already been spent by the end of 2022.
