Metro services in Anderlecht will be disrupted after 21:00 for three weeks in March, Brussels public transport operator STIB confirmed on Monday. Passengers will have to rely on replacement bus services.
Metro line 5 will not run between Gare de l'Ouest to the west of Brussels and Erasme, near the border with Flanders, after 21:00 for three of the four weeks in March.
"A replacement bus service will take passengers to their destination during these interruptions," STIB spokesperson Laurent Vermeersch said. The schedule may still be adjusted depending on football matches in Anderlecht.
"Travellers can also use the bus and tram lines that serve Anderlecht, such as lines 46, 49 or 81." STIB's routeplanner offers passengers alternatives.
Metro traffic will be disrupted:
- From Monday 3 March to Sunday 9 March
- From Monday 17 March to Friday 21 March
- From Monday 24 March to Friday 28 March
Modernising metro services
This service interruption gives STIB the time to thoroughly test the new CBTC (Communication-Based Train Control) signalling, a new system for directing metro traffic which has already been installed on this section of the metro line.
"Both the new dispatching control system for monitoring all vehicles in real-time and the equipment in the tunnel and on board the metro trains will be tested," said Vermeersch.
This complex communication system manages metro traffic safely and efficiently to ensure metros don't travel too fast or follow too closely behind one another. The existing system – in use since 1976 – needs to be modernised and adapted to the new trainsets that need to be able to run closer together.
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"Metro lines 1 and 5 are sometimes very busy and will be the first to be equipped with the new system. The new CBTC signalling system will allow the frequency to be increased in complete safety," Vermeersch explained.
The purchase of 43 new M7 metro trains (of which half have already been put in service) and the equipping and modification of older metro trains (13 of the 21 M6 couples have been fitted with CBTC so far) are part of this broader initiative to modernise the metro network. CBTC will be installed in April on the section between the Thieffry and Herrmann-Debroux stations.
