Insights
Entire Belgian rail network equipped with system that continuously monitors the speed of trains
On the 15th of December 2025, 6,399 km, or all main tracks of the Belgian railway network, have ETCS (European Train Control System). This European safety system continuously monitors the speed of trains and intervenes when the maximum permitted speed is exceeded. This rollout is the result of a decade of work involving up to 1,500 people. The implementation was carried out as envisaged in the ETCS Master Plan adopted after the Buizingen accident. After Luxembourg, Belgium is the second country in Europe to equip its entire rail network with ETCS.
A progressive improvement to safety
Following the Buizingen train accident (15 February 2010), Belgium set itself the goal of progressively enhancing safety across its railway network. In October 2011, the government approved the ETCS Master Plan in accordance with the decisions of the Special Committee on Railway Safety.
On the one hand, this involves integrating and implementing an enhanced safety culture among Infrabel staff through a thorough revision of operational and safety procedures (including mandatory risk analyses), an in-depth analysis of incidents and all signal overruns, and close cooperation with the railway undertakings.
On the other hand, there is also the technological pillar, the first step of which is the accelerated installation of the automatic stop system TBL1+, which is compatible with the rollout of ETCS in terms of hardware (beacons in the tracks). Infrabel completed the installation of TBL1+ on the Belgian network in late 2015.
The second and partly parallel step was the rollout of ETCS itself. This European signalling system provides constant and complete speed monitoring of the train journey and the maximum permitted speed (acting as a kind of intelligent ‘cruise control’). If a train driver drives faster than permitted or fails to respect signals, the system will intervene immediately by automatically decelerating the train or even performing (emergency) braking, for example, when approaching a red signal or when entering a speed-limited section of the railway line.
During this step-by-step rollout on the Belgian rail network, rail safety has been progressively improved for both passengers and freight. The figures regarding signal overruns also support this: in 2024, Infrabel recorded half as many as in 2010 (51 compared with 104). Thanks to the intervention of ETCS in particular, these incidents posed no risk of a collision. Once all trains are equipped with ETCS* (which is necessary for the exchange of information between the infrastructure and the train), the remaining risk of an accident will have decreased by a factor of 16 compared with 2010.
*The deadline for this has been set by Royal Decree at 12 December 2027.
An investment of €2.8 billion makes Belgium a model example
The commissioning of ETCS marks a historic milestone. Thanks to the installation of ETCS combined with the complete digitalisation of train traffic management systems (operated from 10 state-of-the-art control centres across the country), Belgium can position itself as a European leader in rail safety. After Luxembourg, Belgium is the 2nd European country to equip its entire rail network with ETCS… but it is the country with the largest number of ETCS-equipped tracks in Europe. In addition, since its commissioning, the Belgian high-speed network has had ETCS or an equivalent with the same functionality.
Benoît Gilson, CEO Infrabel:“I am very proud that we have reached this historic milestone today. ETCS, in combination with the digitalised train traffic management systems, offers our customers the highest level of safety and it strengthens the position of Belgium, which now has one of the best equipped and therefore safest railway networks in Europe. I would therefore like to thank the Infrabel and TUC RAIL teams, as well as the contractors and suppliers, who have worked tirelessly day and night, both on site and behind the scenes, all these years to make this project a reality. And also many thanks to the government and to Europe for all the support provided.”
Infrabel’s total investment – in line with the ETCS Master Plan – amounts to approximately €2.8 billion (including around €100 million in European subsidies from “Connecting Europe Facility – CEF”). This corresponds to the initial estimated cost of €2 billion in 2011.
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