One of the world’s most beloved and unusual tramlines is back in action in Brussels. After two years of engineering works and shortened itineraries, Tram 44 is once again running its full leafy route, connecting Montgomery station on the edge of the Etterbeek and Sint-Pieters Woluwe districts with nearby Tervuren, as reported by Tervuren+.
Known for its tracks that venture between the beeches and oaks of the centuries-old Sonian Forest, the 44 offers plenty of Instagram opportunities as it snakes past desirable homes along elegant Tervurenlaan and weaves through the ancient woodland for several kilometres.
To mark the occasion of the re-launch, operator STIB/MIVB in partnership with the city’s Tram Museum, laid on a sight for sore eyes on Saturday 21 June, running vintage trams along the route between 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm. “Passengers will be able to (re)discover route 44 aboard the trams of yesteryear,” STIB said, describing the trolleycars being brought out of retirement as “showpieces of Brussels’ rolling stock heritage.”
Once the old trams have taken part in the celebrations, the intention is to being new low-floor, high-capacity carriages online. Montgomery tram station requires further updates before any state-of-the-art vehicles can be deployed however, something that entails the completion of further feasibility studies. That means the multimillion-euro project route will still be operated with old PCC trams (notorious for giving passengers a bumpy ride) for the time being.
But refurbishments along the line since 2023 include new catenary lines overhead, 28 km of rails and 22,000 concrete slabs, renovating seven kilometres of track. What’s more, renovations of three tram stops are to be completed, if all goes well, before August 2025: Trois Couleurs/Drie Kleuren; Auderghem Forêt/ Oudergem Woud, and Ravenstein. And at Tervuren, the tram now offers passengers micromobility options via the Hoppin Punkt.
As well as being a tourist attraction in its own right, the picturesque tramline delivers visitors from Brussels almost to the door of the AfricaMuseum. Established in 1898, it was built in an impressive neo-classical style to house Leopold II’s colonial plunder from Belgium’s former Congo. But the museum was closed for five years between 2013 and 2018 as it underwent a €66-million rethink of its collection and the story it tells. Leopold’s Great Rotunda statue was removed and replaced with a piece by DRC-born artist, Aimé Mpane. Now an ethnographical and natural history museum, it also houses a research centre focusing on whole Congo Basin, Central Africa, East Africa, and West Africa.
