The much-discussed Metro Line 3, which is supposed to connect the north and the south of the Capital Region, will not enter into service in 2032 as originally planned.
The construction has been blocked for months due to the need to dismantle Palais du Midi to build a tunnel, but now another delay is prolonging the project, as a separate tunnel will need to be constructed under the Brussels North station, L'Echo reports.
This new structure should serve as a temporary terminus for the new line and as a junction between Brussels North station and Bordet once the extension of the line to Schaerbeek and Evere is completed. But work on this tunnel was delayed when excavations hit the water table in March 2023.
In the wake of this, the Beliris federal buildings agency – which is in charge of building the new metro line under the tracks and platforms at North station – proposed a technical solution to the Brussels public transport operator STIB/MIVB and the Brussels Government.
Complicated and costly
However without a new Brussels Government to approve an amendment, this section of the project cannot proceed. As a result the Interior Affairs Minister Bernard Quintin (MR) – who is also in charge of Beliris – has said that this section of Metro 3 coming into service in 2032 is "no longer realistic".
"The decision not to approve the work has an impact on the schedule, but also potentially on the cost of the work," Quintin noted in his Beliris policy paper.
A decision now hangs on the future Brussels Government, but this will seriously complicate matters. For its part, STIB/MIVB is responsible for the work to convert the existing tram line into a metro line between Albert and the North station (phase 1). Meanwhile, Beliris is in charge of the worksite under the Brussels North station and the design studies for the extension to Bordet (phase 2).
To date, Beliris has already paid STIB/MIVB €402.7 million in pre-financing and €61.7 million for the studies and works at Brussels North. A reported €51.8 million more must still be paid.
Metro line 3. Credit: Belga/Eric Lalmand
For the whole Metro 3 project, the Federal Government – via its buildings agency Beliris – agreed to spend up to €520 million, with the Brussels Government and STIB/MIVB being responsible for any overruns.
Initially, the budget for the extension between Brussels North and Bordet was around €1 billion (in 2016), rising to €1.5 billion in 2020 and €3.2 billion in 2023. Today, the total estimated sum for the Albert-Brussels North transformation and the extension to Bordet is €4.7 billion.
"The previous plans are proving to be impracticable, despite the fact that the federal authority has paid its share of the pre-financing," said Quintin's policy note. "We are ready to discuss with a future Brussels Government how this can be remedied. We know that estimates of the total cost to the Region have exploded."
Quintin added that during his term of office, he will be "fully available and ready to listen to the regional authorities regarding a solution that is financially covered by the Region."
