The National Company of Light Railways (, abbreviated as NMVB; , abbreviated as SNCV) They were and included electrified city lines and rural lines using steam locomotives and diesel railcars; half the system was electrified.

The company gradually switched to buses and dismantled the tram tracks. Only the coastal line, the Charleroi light rail system, and the short line to the caves at Han-sur-Lesse are still in commercial use; four museums hold significant collections of rolling stock, including the museum at Schepdaal and the ASVi museum in Thuin. The longest () and oldest (40 years) tourist tramway is the Tramway Touristique de l'Aisne (TTA), between Érezée and Dochamps. A sponsoring group called "Tramania" has supported various tramway preservation initiatives for 13 years, in particular by financing the construction of the Thuin museum and car restoration for TTA.

History

thumb|Map of Belgium, its districts and major cities|260x260px

Legislation allowing the construction of rural tramways was passed in 1875, followed by a new law in 1885. The result was the creation of the nationwide operator named "National Company of Light Railways", known as Nationale Maatschappij van Buurtspoorwegen (NMVB) in Dutch and Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Vicinaux (SNCV) in French. At this time, the electric tramway network was already in length. In 1939, the NMVB/SNCV operated 161 regular bus lines amounting to .

After World War II lorries, buses, and cars deprived the trams of much of their business. The electric network reached a peak of in 1950. The whole network (electric and non-electric) was still approximately in length (the peak of was in 1945), but by 1960 had been reduced to only . On several rural lines, passenger tramways were replaced by buses but SNCV/NMVB kept running freight trams until it wasn't profitable anymore. In 1977, the buses of the Belgian railways (SNCB/NMBS) were transferred to SNCV/NMVB. The tramways from Brussels to Wemmel, and Grimbergen closed in 1978.

Political federalism within Belgium from 1980 onwards saw the splitting of many national institutions into separate bodies for Flanders, Wallonia, and the Brussels-Capital Region. SNCV/NMVB was broken up in 1991 into De Lijn (for Flanders) and TEC (for Wallonia), both companies were now primarily operating buses. De Lijn inherited the tram systems in Ghent and Antwerp (including the Pre-metro), operated previously by local companies MIVG and MIVA respectively, and the coastal tramway. TEC operates the Charleroi light rail system, which includes sections of Vicinal track. STIB/MIVB operates the Brussels Metro, tram, and bus network.

<gallery class="center">

File:SNCV Signal Arrêt du Train.jpg|Train signal

File:Tramparade 4 Benzinetram.jpg|"Tramparade 125 years of vicinal railways", 4th tram of the parade

File:Museumterrein Schepdaal 3.JPG|Tramsite Schepdaal

File:Tourinnes bew.jpg|Steam tram in

File:Alle SNCV 9.jpg|Alle (fr) station building, just outside village, now used as a local office for the Société Régionale Wallonne du Transport

File:NMVB Type 3.JPG|Steam tram locomotive.

</gallery>

See also

  • List of town tramway systems in Belgium

Footnotes

References

  • Tramway Touristique Lobbes-Thuin
  • Tramway Touristique de l'Aisne
  • Photo archives of the Vicinal tramways
  • Vicinal tram history and preservation activities
  • Trambelgium (with NMVB/SNCV history)
  • Tram Travels: Vicinal tramway (NMVB/SNCV)