NMBS marks 100 years as Brussels reckons with the railway that reshaped it
The anniversary lands while Belgian rail faces investment backlogs, punctuality pressure and a contested service plan.
In 30 seconds
- NMBS/SNCB was founded in 1926 and marked its centenary in July 2026.
- Brussels outlet BRUZZ published a centenary feature on 23 July 2026 framed on how railway construction reshaped the capital.
- The North-South junction linking Brussels-North and Brussels-South opened in 1952 after decades of delayed construction.
- Building the junction required large-scale demolition in central Brussels, including parts of the Marollen district.
NMBS/SNCB (Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen / Société nationale des chemins de fer belges) is Belgium's national passenger rail operator, founded in 1926. Since the 2005 restructuring it operates trains and stations while a separate company, Infrabel, owns and manages the track and signalling; both sit under federal ownership. Its most consequential Brussels project is the North-South junction (Noord-Zuidverbinding / Jonction Nord-Midi), the underground rail link between Brussels-North and Brussels-South stations, opened in 1952, which carries the bulk of Belgian intercity traffic and required extensive demolition in central Brussels, including in the Marollen. Brussels-Central station, on that link, was designed by architect Victor Horta. BRUZZ is the Dutch-language Brussels public news outlet that published the centenary feature and the BRUZZ 24 bulletin cited here.
Background
Belgium opened continental Europe's first steam passenger railway between Brussels and Mechelen in 1835, and the state built out the network directly through the nineteenth century. NMBS/SNCB was created in 1926 as a separate public limited company to run it, a structure intended to give the railways commercial autonomy while keeping them in public hands. The North-South junction had been proposed in the nineteenth century but was repeatedly delayed by cost, war and political disagreement; construction spanned decades before the link opened in 1952. In 2005, under European rules requiring separation of infrastructure from operations, the company was split, with Infrabel taking the network and NMBS retaining passenger services.
What to do
Nothing changes for ticketing or timetables because of the anniversary. Passengers should still expect the Brussels junction to remain the network's chokepoint: incidents there continue to propagate nationally, and journeys crossing Brussels carry the highest delay exposure on the network.
The Belgian angle
Brussels carries the physical legacy of NMBS construction more than any other part of Belgium. The North-South junction cut a permanent scar through the central districts, and the neighbourhoods around Brussels-North and Brussels-South have been shaped ever since by station-led development and by the traffic the link generates. Commuters into the Brussels-Capital Region — a large share of them from Flanders and Wallonia — depend on the same corridor.
EvidenceDeveloping · 1 primary source + 1 independent reporting source · some details remain unconfirmedExplore evidence →Hide evidence ↑
- Published:
- 23 Jul 2026, 02:00
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 24 Jul 2026
- Published:
- 23 Jul 2026, 02:00
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 24 Jul 2026
- Publication date unavailable
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 24 Jul 2026
- Publication date unavailable
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 24 Jul 2026
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