Train routes in Belgium
30 routes · high-speed 4 · classic 19 · night train 2 · scenic 3 · heritage 2
30 routes cross Belgium in the World Train Map atlas. The longest is the European Sleeper at 1,200 km; the fastest is the Eurostar (Thalys), running up to 300 km/h; the oldest line dates to 1836. Every route links to its facts, photo and story, and to the interactive world map.
Open the world railway map →Part of the Europe train map: every route on the continent, one map.
High-speed (4)
- Eurostar (Thalys)
The crimson Thalys, folded into Eurostar in 2023, chains French, Belgian and Dutch high-speed lines into one dash.
Wikipedia ↗ - Eurostar
The original Channel Tunnel service to the EU capital takes St Pancras to Bruxelles-Midi in under two hours, city centre to city centre.
Wikipedia ↗ - Eurostar
A single train from St Pancras to Amsterdam Centraal since 2018: under the Channel, across Flanders and over the Dutch polders in about four hours.
Wikipedia ↗ - ICE
The high-speed link binding Belgium to the Rhineland: past Liège’s soaring Calatrava station and over the language border at Aachen, Charlemagne’s capital, at 300 km/h.
Wikipedia (DE) ↗
Classic (19)
- Intercity Dendermonde–Kortrijk
Flanders corner to corner through the middle of Brussels, Dendermonde to Kortrijk and the French border beyond, on the Halle to Tournai line the young Belgian state opened in 1842.
- Intercity
Wallonia end to end and out the other side, up the Sambre from Namur through Charleroi, La Louviere and Mons and over the French border to Lille, on a valley line opened in 1843 to move coal and steel.
- Intercity
One of Belgium’s original 1838 trunk lines, running dead-flat across Flanders through Ghent and Bruges to the North Sea ferry port of Ostend.
- Intercity
Terminates beneath Santiago Calatrava’s soaring white vault of steel and glass at Liège-Guillemins, one of Europe’s boldest modern stations.
Wikipedia (NL) ↗ - Intercity
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.
- Intercity
Traces the route of continental Europe’s first passenger railway of 1835 and ends under the vast domed railway cathedral of Antwerpen-Centraal.
Wikipedia (NL) ↗ - Liège–Maastricht railway
Down the Meuse from Liège to Maastricht, a cross-border run open since 1861 and now worked by Arriva's Dutch regional trains.
Wikipedia ↗ - IC Antwerpen–Hasselt
An hour east from the Scheldt to the Demer: out of Antwerp through Lier, then Heist-op-den-Berg and Diest across the Campine to Hasselt, on rails joined up in the 1860s.
- Intercity
West Flanders end to end: out of the dunes at De Panne past Veurne and Diksmuide, then Tielt and Deinze to Ghent, on the line that finally reached the coast in 1870.
- Intercity
East across the Campine heath from Antwerp, through Lier, Herentals, Geel and Mol to Hamont in the far corner of Limburg, on rails completed in 1879.
- Intercity
Flanders’ two great cities in an hour, straight through the Waasland at Sint-Niklaas and Lokeren, on a line that reached Ghent in 1847 but Antwerp’s own stations only in 1970, through the Kennedy tunnel under the Scheldt.
- Intercity
The long way to the sea: from the airport out to Denderleeuw, then Oudenaarde, Kortrijk and Roeselare through the Flemish Ardennes before Bruges and Ostend.
- Intercity
Down the oldest railway on the Continent, Brussels to Mechelen in 1835, then the 1843 line south past Nivelles into the Sambre coalfield at Charleroi.
- Intercity
Forty-six minutes down the Meuse, Liège to Namur under the cliffs and citadels of the valley, on the line the Namur to Liège company opened along the riverbank in 1850.
- Maubeuge–Charleroi railway
Charleroi to the French frontier at Erquelinnes opened on 6 November 1852, and the Nord company’s line from Saint-Quentin met it there on 11 August 1855, on the old main road from Paris to Brussels.
Wikipedia ↗ - Intercity
The Louvain-to-Charleroi company opened its whole route in 1855, Leuven to Wavre in February and the last stretch into the Sambre coalfield that August; the IC-24 still runs it end to end.
- Intercity
From Poperinge’s hop fields through Ypres, then along the French border by Wervik and Menen to Kortrijk, Ghent and Antwerp; the last link, the rail tunnel under the Scheldt, opened in 1970.
- Intercity
From the coast to the German-speaking east in one train: Ostend, Bruges and Ghent, the three Brussels stations, Leuven and Liège, then up the Vesdre valley by Verviers to Eupen.
- S41
From Verviers down the Vesdre valley to Liège, north by Herstal and Liers, then over the curve at Glons, laid in 1973 to join the line the German army built in 1917, for Tongeren and Hasselt.
Wikipedia (NL) ↗
Night train (2)
- European Sleeper
Crowdfunded start-up that gave the Low Countries their night train back: via The Hague and Amsterdam to Berlin and the Elbe valley to Prague.
Wikipedia ↗ - European Sleeper
The night train that replaced the lost Nightjet: Paris to Berlin via Brussels three times a week since March 2026, the open-access sleeper’s boldest route yet.
Wikipedia ↗
Scenic (3)
- Kusttram
The world’s longest tram line: 67 km of metre-gauge track hugging the entire Belgian coast from De Panne to Knokke, calling at 68 stops.
Wikipedia ↗ - Intercity
A cross-border Intercity through the wooded Éislek and the Ourthe and Amblève valleys, one of the prettiest rail rides in the Ardennes.
- Line 166 (Athus–Meuse)
Up the Meuse and over the Ardennes from Dinant to Bertrix: passenger trains on the Athus–Meuse freight road between Antwerp and Basel.
Wikipedia (FR) ↗
Heritage (2)
- Chemin de Fer du Bocq
Three tunnels and five stone viaducts pack into the Bocq valley on one of Belgium’s most dramatically engineered branch lines.
Wikipedia (FR) ↗ - Chemin de Fer à Vapeur des Trois Vallées
Steam on the 1854 Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse line: CFV3V engines bark up the wooded Viroin valley to the great museum shed at Treignes.
Wikipedia ↗
Photos via Wikimedia Commons; each route page credits the author & licence
What is the fastest train in Belgium?
The Eurostar (Thalys), running Paris to Amsterdam at up to 300 km/h. It is one of 30 routes in Belgium in this atlas.
Are there night trains in Belgium?
Yes, 2 sleeper services in this atlas serve Belgium: European Sleeper (Brussels – Prague), European Sleeper (Paris – Berlin).
Can you cross the border by train from Belgium?
Yes, 11 of its 30 routes continue into another country: Eurostar (Thalys) (Paris – Amsterdam), European Sleeper (Brussels – Prague), Intercity (Namur – Lille), Intercity (Brussels – Luxembourg), among others.
Which is the most scenic railway in Belgium?
Belgium has 3 scenic or mountain lines in this atlas. The longest is the Intercity, 156 km.
Cross-border lines continue into
Train routes in Czechia 33 routes
Train routes in France 114 routes
Train routes in Germany 144 routes
Train routes in Luxembourg 7 routes
Train routes in Netherlands 20 routes
Train routes in United Kingdom 107 routes