2023-06-06 17:32:00
It will take two years to see the full commissioning of a portion of the automated metro in Brussels. It will then be a demonstration section involving three stations on line 5 in Anderlecht (Ceria – Eddy Merckx – Erasme). “The Stib currently has around twenty M7 cars which can run in automatic mode. The IT system and signage should be in place by mid-2025. We will then have to install the facades of the platforms (the platform doors that open when the metro arrives, Editor’s note) and then we will be able to welcome the first passengers”, indicates Marleen Telemans, director of the STIB metro modernization program, on the sidelines of the summit of the International Union of Public Transport which was taking place in Barcelona.
The automatic metro will run well a few weeks before during a test phase. The opportunity for Stib to check the compatibility of several systems (such as automatic door opening), but also to reassure users of the reliability of the device.
Small peculiarity: there will be a driver at the helm on the rest of line 5. “Concretely, the driver will normally be in the cabin until the Ceria stop. At this station, he will get out of his post and let the metro continue on its own, without assistance in the cabin, to the terminus. During this time, the driver will pass to the other side of the tracks. When the convoy returns in the other direction, the driver will go back to his cabin and take over the controls”, explains the project manager. There is no agenda yet for the transformation of all of line 5.
Planning still uncertain
For the Stib, the intention is clear: the Brussels metro should eventually be automatic. When exactly ? Impossible to say. “Ihe Brussels government has yet to decide on the schedule”, explains Marleen Telemans. Many European cities are already equipped with this system which Brussels has been talking about for fifteen years. This is the case, for example, of Barcelona where the first automatic line came into circulation in 2009. The case of Barcelona differs from that of Brussels since, in the Catalan city, these were new lines created directly for the automatic metro.
In Brussels, on the other hand, it will be a question of the transformation of the existing axes, with the exception of future line 3, the contours of which are currently uncertain. “The northern part of this line (between the Gare du Nord and Bordet) will be directly equipped to allow the circulation of an automatic metro. The southern part of the line will be gradually transformed so that the complete line runs without a driver when it is inaugurated.”, explains Marleen Telemans.
Gain flexibility
According to the CEO of the Brussels transport company, switching to automatic would allow the Stib to increase the frequency of metro traffic during peak times. Today, the metro runs at the rate of one pass every two and a half minutes. Automation would make it possible to go below the two-minute mark.
Stib could also gain flexibility. “In the event of a large crowd during a big event at the Heysel stadium, this would allow the line concerned to be injected with new cars much more quickly than now where we have to find available staff members”, illustrates Brieuc de Meeûs, CEO of Stib and vice-president of UITP, also present in Barcelona.
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