Only a few tourist railways operate in Belgium. The trains usually run only during the season or on weekends. Trains are steam or diesel hauled and comprised of vintage carriages. Sometimes passengers are carried by historic railbuses. Special tariffs applied. SNCB tickets and Interrail passes are not accepted.
Tourist railways in Belgium
Chemin de fer à vapeur des Trois Vallées – a tourist railway which was inaugurated in 1973. Steam or diesel hauled trains and railbuses from Mariembourg to Treignes. Total length of the route is 12 km. Trains run usually every weekend and public holidays from last weekend in March to the first weekend of November, every Tuesday and Thursday from the early July to late August and on certain days.
Chemin de fer à vapeur des Trois Vallées – official website
Chemin de fer du Bocq – a tourist trains through Bocq Valley between Ciney and Bauche (14 km). Steam or diesel hauled trains and historic railbuses from the 1950s. The trip takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Chemin de fer du Bocq – official website
Stoomcentre Maldegem – most famous tourist railway in Belgium. Steam or diesel hauled vintage trains run on the two routes:
Maldegem – Eeklo (approximately 10 km)
Maldegem – Donk (approximately 1.5 km)(narrow-gauge)
In May, Maldegem hosts the “Steamfestival” – a popular railway event. The railway also features a railway museum. Among the exhibits is the Polish steam locomotive TKh 5387 “General Maczek.” The locomotive was built in 1959 for the “Saturn” cement plant in Wojkowice, where it operated until 1994. The same year, it was purchased by British railway enthusiasts, refurbished, and for several years carried tourists on tourist trains near Northampton. Unfortunately, in the UK, the locomotive was not stored indoors, causing it to deteriorate quickly. The British decided to sell it. The operators of the Maldegem railway bought it, refurbished it, and the Polish locomotive still operates on their tourist routes.
Among the rolling stock fleet, noteworthy is the small steam locomotive “Yvonne,” built in 1893 in Liege. It is probably the oldest steam locomotive in Belgium. Additionally, tourists can see vintage carriages, old locomotives, and historic railcars, some of which are still operational.
Stoomcentre Maldegem – official website
Stoomtrein Dendermonde-Puurs – standard-gauge heritage railway from the town of Dendermonde to the town of Puurs over about 14 km. The trains are pulled by both steam and diesel locomotives, sometimes passengers are carried by historic railcars. The steam train usually runs every Sunday from July to September. The railway has been used occasionally by various film and television production companies to shoot movie scenes that are too elaborate to be filmed on the Belgian national railway network because of the potential disruption to traffic.
Stoomtrein Dendermonde-Puurs – official website
Patrimoine Ferroviaire et Tourisme – a society dedicated to the preservation of Belgian railway heritage. The society has its own historic locomotives and passenger carriages and occasionally operate charter trains on the Belgian railway network. The society runs a small railway museum at Saint-Ghislain.
Patrimoine Ferroviaire et Tourisme – official website
Luxembourg-Blankenberge-Express (discontinued) – in the past, the excursion train from Luxembourg to Blankenberge on the Belgian coast was very popular. It operated on selected holiday weekends, jointly organized by Belgian Railways, Luxembourg Railways, and railway enthusiasts from the Groupement des Amis du Rail association, which has been active since 1973. The association’s collection includes several rail vehicles, among them a vintage railcar and Luxembourg’s only dining car, named “Rendez-Vous.” The train was ceased in 2017.
Sometimes national railway operator runs tourist trains close to the border with Germany.
Related articles:
Train travel in Belgium – a comprehensive guide
