The work on electrifying the 12.5 km railway line began in May 2021. Alongside the electrification project a new bridge was also built over the Albert Canal. According to Infrabel, a total of 300 catenary poles and 84 km of wires and cables for the catenary were installed. Furthermore, 113 km of cables, 15 signals and six signal chains distributed between Genk Goederen and Bilzen were also installed
“The work was carried out in a very short time: the track was taken out of service on May 18, 2021, and returned to service on March 28, 2022,” explained Kris Meulders, civil engineer at Infrabel. “Everything went smoothly, and the result is impressive!”
A European Train Control System has also been deployed on the line – an investment supported by the federal government and Europe. The total investment for the electrification, signalling and track works on this section amounts to €20m, with intervention from Europe via the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility.
“This project was a challenge. The schedules had to be coordinated, and due to the scale of the work and the method used to lay the rails on the bridge (rails embedded over +/- 160m), these were extraordinary operations. If we were able to deliver this fine example of know-how, it is thanks to the good cooperation of the whole team,” added Benny De Jong, tracks project manager at Infrabel.
The new electrified line will be beneficial for freight traffic between Antwerp and the German border, and therefore also for the ports and for the Belgian economy, according to Infrabel. The project also underlines Infrabel’s ambition and that of the Belgian government to promote rail freight transport, and thus achieve greater modal shift.
Today, approximately 90% of main lines in Belgium (around 5,900km) are now electrified, which makes the Belgian rail network one of the leading in the world in terms of electrification.