After work near the Gare du Midi being at a standstill for a year and a half, an agreement has been reached to resume work on metro line 3. However, there will be a five-year delay on the project.
There have been various complications regarding the construction of metro line 3, which will run from metro stop Albert in Saint-Gilles to Gare du Nord in Schaerbeek. However, public transport operator STIB and Toots, the consortium of companies in charge of construction work on metro line 3, have now reached an agreement to continue works on the site near Gare du Midi, STIB's spokesperson Guy Sablon confirmed.
Initially, a 120-metre-long tunnel needed to be dug underneath the Palais du Midi, located on Boulevard Lemonnier, which houses 35 shops, 37 sports clubs and the Francisco Ferrer High School (1,200 students). However, due to the spongy nature of the subsoil around the building, the Brussels Government announced a change in strategy. Instead of working under the Palais, contractors would open up the floor and dismantle the interior of the building.
"There was a technical dispute specifically about this section of the tunnel under the palace, so work on this was halted," Sablon told The Brussels Times. Works here have been paused for over 18 months, resulting in locals having to live amid construction upheaval. The dispute was regarding the possible penalties and the cost of work around the historic Palais du Midi.
The Palais du Midi is at the heart of the project conflict. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
STIB and the consortium of companies (Besix, Jan De Nul and Franki Construct) have disputed the matter for months. They have now, however, finally reached an agreement, stating that Toots will be responsible for the works around this listed building. STIB has not yet released information on how much this additional phase would cost.
For the additional works themselves, permits still have to be given. On Friday, the Brussels Parliament is also expected to approve a so-called "fast track" ordinance that will speed up the procedure for issuing planning permission to deconstruct the Palais du Midi to restart work on Metro 3 as quickly as possible. This means that both necessary elements to relaunch the works are now in place.
Sablon added that work on the other parts of the tunnel has continued and that the tunnel is starting to take shape.
Delayed deadline, soaring costs
STIB was initially aiming to bring the southern section of the metro line into service in 2025, but this has now been delayed until 2030. This requires the upgrading of the pre-metro (tram lines 3-4), passing through stations such as De Brouckère, Gare du Midi and Porte de Hal, and will see a new stop being added between Anneessens and Gare du Midi named Toots Thielemans. Work at the Palais du Midi concerns this part of the metro project.
Works on the second section of the metro line, to the north, is at a much less advanced stage. It involves the construction of seven stations between Gare du Nord and Bordet (Evere), with the new route passing through Place Liedts, Place Collignon and Square Riga in Schaerbeek. No completion date for this section has been given yet.
Despite the project being in its early stages, it has already experienced an explosion in cost compared with initial estimates. The total cost for the southern section has risen to €1.283 billion from the initial cost of €756 million predicted in 2022. For the section between Gare du Nord and Bordet, the estimated cost has risen from €1.5 billion in 2022 to €3.2 billion.
