Flanders trip in January

[alex397]

Hi all. I have booked a trip to the Flanders region of Belgium in the first week of January, mainly to visit the remaining Christmas markets in Brussels and Gent.

I will travel by Eurostar in the early morning, and will spend a few hours in Brussels, to visit the market and hopefully ride some of the PCCs. In the summer, there were quite a few still in service. Is this still the case? I've been trying to research online but to no avail.
I will then travel up to Bruges, as I can only get to my hotel from 3pm onwards. I will stay there for 2 nights. My main aim is to visit the Coastal Tram (Kusttram). Probably train to Knokke, tram to Ostend, then back to Bruges by train. I might even swap the train to Knokke to bus, as there is a bus route from Bruges to Knokke.
I was considering ticking off the whole of the Kusttram route, but end-to-end journey time is 2hr30, and I wanted to stop at a few places too. I might still do the full route, weather depending, and if I can be bothered!
On the day I return, I was go via Gent to see the market, and hopefully ride a PCC, but I'm not sure any remain here now.

Is there anything interesting to look out for in this Brugge/Knokke/Oostende area, in terms of passenger trains and buses. I am interested in elderly or rare rolling stock/vehicles, interesting route variations and infrastructure. And any tips on the Coastal Tram?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Spoorslag '70]

Brussel should still have PCCs (short ones normally on 8, 25, 39, 44, 55, 56, 81, 82, 92, 97, long ones normally on 19, 32, 55, 56, 81 and 82 [cf. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brusselse_tram]).

I have not seen any PCCs in service in Gent when I was there in the summer, but a load of them were stabled at the depot in Gentbrugge (Tram 2 or 4 to Gentbrugge, Stelplaats).

In the coastal area, the most interesting rolling stock probably are the I6 corridor coaches on some Eupen-Oostende ICs (5xx series) and the M4 bank seated coaches on the P trains Brussel-Oostende (7001/8001 and 7002/8002). I sometimes have the feeling that the coastal tram is slightly overrated, being "coastal" for only a few kms and being rather crowded (at least) during the summer.

 

[class387]

I did the exact same trip as you are planning on (Brugge-Knokke-Oostende-Brugge).

You can check train compositions using this website:
http://www.beluxtrains.net/indexen.php

When I went to Knokke it was all AM96 'rubber ring' units (which are actually very nice) but now it seems to be a nore interesting mix of loco hauled double deck stock and older AM80 units. Oostende seems to be a mix of loco-hauled, AM80s and AM08s. P trains in the peak can have more interesting stock.

Between Knokke and Oostende the Kusttram is very, very boring, running on a dual carriageway for pretty much the whole trip. In fact I would say the Croydon tram is more scenically attractive!

Didn't spend much time in Brussels or use any buses so can't comment on either.

 

[johnnychips]

I can’t remember seeing any of the older trams in Gent in summer either. As a tip, a lot of Belgian stations still have left luggage lockers so if any of your day trips are circular you may be able to avoid dragging your case, and certainly in the case of Gent St Pieters you could leave it there while riding trams or visiting market.

 

[alex397]

Thank you for the replies so far - very interesting and useful.

Thanks for the honest opinions about the Kusttram. I had a feeling people might think it is overrated - the towns look rather bland, and its not the most scenic coastline of Europe. I shall still be looking forward to visiting though, just to sample a different tram type, and to experience for myself an inter-urban tram which is the longest in the world (apparently). Is the Ostend - De Panne section of the tram any more scenic or worthwhile?

class387, interesting that you did the same trip as I plan to do! Thank you for that website link - I shall use it while out there.

Thanks johnnychips, your tip about the lockers may come in handy. I hadn't thought of that.

 

[class387]

Thank you for the replies so far - very interesting and useful.

Thanks for the honest opinions about the Kusttram. I had a feeling people might think it is overrated - the towns look rather bland, and its not the most scenic coastline of Europe. I shall still be looking forward to visiting though, just to sample a different tram type, and to experience for myself an inter-urban tram which is the longest in the world (apparently). Is the Ostend - De Panne section of the tram any more scenic or worthwhile?

class387, interesting that you did the same trip as I plan to do! Thank you for that website link - I shall use it while out there.

Thanks johnnychips, your tip about the lockers may come in handy. I hadn't thought of that.

I think the De Panne section is the bit that has coast running, but I'm not sure how much there is. It's probably better anyway though. However, it is much harder to return to Brugge from there than any of the other locations.

If you wanted to just sample the Kusttram, you could get off at Blankenberge (around 20min from Knokke) if you get bored at take a train back from there.

 

[MarcVD]

For me the section to De Panne is prettier than to Knokke. But indeed, to come back, it's a bit more complicated, but not that much : in De Panne, take a train to Ghent (hourly) and change in Lichtervelde for a train to Brugge (also hourly, immédiate connection). It will give you an idea of how the less frequently traveled belgian railway lines look like.

 

[class387]

For me the section to De Panne is prettier than to Knokke. But indeed, to come back, it's a bit more complicated, but not that much : in De Panne, take a train to Ghent (hourly) and change in Lichtervelde for a train to Brugge (also hourly, immédiate connection). It will give you an idea of how the less frequently traveled belgian railway lines look like.

Takes 75 minutes though, rather than 15 from any of the other destinations

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The best section of the 'Coastal Tram' is certainly Oostende to De Panne - it has a significant inland diversion to serve Nieuwpoort with one of the last remaining inter-urban tramway sections that formerly criss-crossed Belgium. In De Panne there is street running to Adinkerke Station which was only completed in the mid 1980s. A pleasant day out from Brugge would certainly be Brugge - Oostende - De Panne - Lichtervelde - Brugge - or alternatively take in Gent as well.

 

[317666]

The best lines to find PCCs in Brussels are the 39 and 44, both of which leave from Montgomery. They're operated solidly by them, even at weekends - some of the lines listed above by Spoorslag '70 I've never seen a PCC on in recent years, perhaps the Dutch Wikipedia article is a bit out of date. You can do a round trip by walking around twenty minutes from Ban-Eik to Tervuren if the weather isn't too miserable - at Ban-Eik you just keep walking in the same direction through the woods.

Edit: The 39 and 44 are operated by the shorter 7700/7800 type - the longer 7900 type are most common on the 51 and 81.

 

[alex397]

Thank you very much for the further information.

I think I will consider travelling the whole route now, it is certainly do-able. Bus from Bruges to Knokke (I know there is the train, but i'd like to try an inter-urban bus route, which can sometimes be more interesting than the train). Then the whole Coastal tram to De Panne. I will probably make some stops along the way though, otherwise it will be very boring. Blankenburge for the Art Deco pier, Ostend, and Nieuwpoort looks nice. De Haan has the historical tram stop as well (is this actually historical, or made to look old Disney-style?)
Then from De Panne try the long train ride back to Bruges via Gent. Is this line particularly remarkable in terms of scenery/rolling stock?

I am surprised to see the Winter timetable for the Kusttram is every 15 minutes. I saw elsewhere that it drops to every 20 mins during the winter, but perhaps they have improved it. Every 15 mins is ideal for just a quick photography stop along the way.

Although its not a hugely scenic part of Belgium, I still enjoy seeing non-touristy areas and industrial/port areas, so I shall still find it interesting, even in the bleak winter (hopefully!)

 

[alex397]

Well it was great service on ES9110 on the 07.38 from Ashford to Bruxelles-Midi, on refurbished 3220. I had a spare seat next to me and no one was in the seats in front, behind or on the other side. I wouldn’t say the train was quiet, but it seems rare to get empty seats on the Paris service compared to Bruxelles.

Interestingly, the destination boards in the Ashford departure lounge and on the platform, it said the service stopped at Calais, however we went straight past non-stop. Which is of course correct according to the timetable, so I’m not sure why the destination boards said that

When approaching Bruxelles Midi, we passed unrefurbished 3218 in the sidings.

I managed to get a PCC tram on route 81 from Midi to Montgomery. This route is a mix of both PCCs and modern types, and certainly goes through non-touristy areas. At Montgomery, I caught the 44 to Tervuren, and this route was solidly PCCs as 317666 said. This is certainly one of the most scenic tram routes I’ve been on, with a long section through forest. I was surprised how frequent and busy this route was, considering it mainly goes past mansion houses and woods, and ending up by a palace. Interestingly this route actually leaves Bruxelles and enters Dutch speaking Flanders, which I didn’t know. Does anyone know why the terminus is called Tervuren Station?

The Christmas markets were huge and well worth a visit! And I’ve certainly realised that zebra crossings do not seem to be compulsory.....

Getting to Brugge was very easy, especially with my ‘Any Belgian Station’ ticket.

I have planned my coast trip tomorrow, and I’m astonished to know that there is a De Lijn day ticket for just 6 euros, covering the entire De Lijn bus and tram network! The benefits of a joined up transport network....

 

[MarcVD]

Tervuren station because till 1960 or so, there was a train line coming from Brussels Luxembourg that terminated there. There is still a foothpath that you can take from there, that will bring you back to the terminus of line 39. The old line right of way is then re used by tram 39 till place Dumon. From there it's is a nice walk/cycle way that will bring you back to métro Demey.
https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemin_de_fer_électrique_de_Bruxelles-Tervueren . It is still very visible on Google Earth.