Charleroi Trams Expansion Plans

Charleroi Trams Expansion Plans

Châtelet Line: Line M5 Branch

The original metro project envisioned an eastern branch from Waterloo station (then Nord) to Châtelet, comprising eight stations. Construction of this branch began in the 1980s and resulted in a first 4 km (2.5 mi) section in various stages of completion.

The Waterloo to Centenaire part has been finished, but was never put into service. As a result, the finished Neuville, Chet, Pensée and Centenaire stations remained closed and were vandalized. Sometime in the 2010s the station building of Centenaire has been demolished. The track until Chet (now Yernaux) was used for driver training, therefor rails and catenary has been maintained. Sometimes special journeys were organized to the station Centenaire on the colloquially named „Métro Fantôme“ (ghost metro), like on 19 March 2017.

Only structural work was completed on the Centenaire to Léopold (now Roctiau) part, with no tracks installed. The rest of the branch has never been built.

In 2011 preliminary estimates gave a cost of 5 million euros to refresh the Waterloo-Centenaire section, and another 20 million to complete the line to Corbeau (serving a nearby popular shopping mall).

In early 2021, TEC Charleroi announced that the Châtelet branch may be finally completed, and the existing part of the branch renewed, using the funds from the Charleroi's €250 million share of the Walloon Recovery Plan. If given go-ahead, the line may be opened by 2026. The funding has been confirmed on 23 June 2021, the project will benefit from €60 million to be used to revitalise the line between Waterloo and Pensée, the last complete station on the line, and to extend it to Viviers to provide connection to the new hospital under construction and due to open in 2024. In January 2023 the building permit for the track, eight stations, and a service building was granted, construction work started November 2024 and the opening is planned for 2027.

Charleroi Trams Renewal

Le Tec in Charleroi on 21 June 2022 presents its first tram with a new look. This renewal operation will involve 12 vehicles per year until 2026. This investment has a total amount of 22 million euros to renew the entire fleet, 500,000 euros per tram. It was assigned to Alstom, which is in charge of most of the work and is subcontracting certain aspects, in collaboration with Entra, an adapted work company based in Fleurus.

Charleroi Trams Overview

Charleroi Trams Owner: Opérateur de transport de Wallonie
Charleroi Trams Locale: Charleroi, Hainaut, Belgium
Charleroi Trams Transit Type: Semi-metro (Light rail)
Charleroi Trams Number of Lines: 4
Charleroi Trams Line Number: M1, M2, M3, M4
Charleroi Trams Number of Stations: 48 (incl. 26 tram stops)
Charleroi Trams Headquarters: Place des Tramways, 9/1 6000 Charleroi
Charleroi Trams Began Operation: 21 June 1976; 48 years ago
Charleroi Trams Operator(s): TEC Charleroi
Charleroi Trams Number of Vehicles: 48
Charleroi Trams System Length: 33 km (21 mi)
Charleroi Trams Track Gauge: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Charleroi Trams Electrification: 600 V DC overhead