World Trip 2002 - Belgium
Petr,
Jacob, Myself and Ben drove south on the multilane highway to Belgium. Petr
was an excellent driver, getting us there in a few hours. I was surprised
to see us pass Waterloo, where Napoleon had his famous battle. We passed through
numerous road tunnels an on the bypass around Brussels then headed further
south to Charleroi, almost to the French border. I think the French border
was only twenty kilometers away.
The Charleroi light rail system is only partly used. Large sections were built but never used. It can be considered either to be an abandoed railway or disused railway. Maintence such as clearing of weeds is still carried out. Construction began in the late 1970's with most work been done in the 1980s. Towards the end of the 80s work slowed down, though new stations were opened as recently as 1996.
After parking in the middle of the city we had lunch and picked up a free map of the city from the town hall which we briefly explored. After some navigation through the town we made our way to the elevated Chet rail station. As there were some workers there we headed out to the next station. Later on we returned to explore Chet in detail.
"This station is Chet. It is complete Chet. In fact this whole place is Chet." Play on words about this disused and abandoned elevated station on the line.
Looking back down the line towards the first three stations we had explored.
Chet station, Charleroi, Belgium. Not much happening here. Note the narrow gauge of the line.
The station is in remarkably good condition. The center track is not live.
On this side of the station trees shade the scene.
Chet station platform. All stations had the same basic layout. Note the metallic truss framework as found on the underground station as well.
The escalators look like they would still work if only there was some power. Note the excellent condition of the tilework. This station has been abandoned long enough for big trees to grow on the line, at least ten years.
The bottom of the escalators.
Looks like it is just waiting for a train to come along.
Another burnt out ticket machine? Perhaps a switching or signalling thing. Ben and Jacob continued along the line while Petr and I rested.
Later on while Petr and I rested Jacob and our fourth member walked up the line towards the city. They walked into a rail tunnel and were shocked to see two lights coming down the track towards them. To their relief the lights turned about twenty metres in front of them into a still active section of the rail system.
My host and guide
in Belgium was Patr Kazil. His excellent
web site is here.
Jacob also has a great web site with pictures of the Charleroi trip here.
You can read more about the light rail lines of Charleroi On this
site and there is a map
here and here
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