Classic route
Intercity
Brussels → Luxembourg · Belgium · Luxembourg
Intercity in pictures
Photographs by their authors, hosted on Wikimedia Commons · tap through for the licence
- Distance
- 219 km
- Fastest time
- 3 h 5 min
- Average speed
- 71 km/h
- Top speed
- 160 km/h
- Operator
- SNCB / CFL
- Train
- I11 · HLE 18
- Countries
- Belgium, Luxembourg
- In service since
- 1858
- Runs
- hourly
Figures are published values, not live data · corrections log
Climbs from Brussels through the forested Ardennes via Namur and Arlon; planned upgrades aim to cut the three-hour run to Luxembourg below two hours by 2030.
Line 161/162 has carried this cross-border Intercity since 1858, climbing steadily from the Sonian Forest’s beeches into the Ardennes plateau. Namur passes beneath its Vauban citadel at the Meuse–Sambre meeting, then the train works up through Ciney and Libramont’s high farm country before the finale: Luxembourg City entered across deep green gorges on a chain of viaducts. Three unhurried hours, and one of the cheapest international tickets in Europe. Luxembourg’s domestic public transport has been free since 2020.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 241358 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 6 m from it
- Checked against the running timetable via Transitous: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of IC 2109
Along the way
- Sonian Forest exit from Brussels
- Namur citadel over the Meuse
- Famenne and Ardennes plateaux
- Libramont high country
- Viaduct approach to Luxembourg City
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More train routes in Belgium · Luxembourg.
Planning this trip? Journey time & direct trains: Brussels → Luxembourg · Luxembourg → Brussels.