Belgian public transport
13/10/03 17:45 Filed in: Travel
One of the
pleasures that was a surprise during our trip to
Brussels was the public transport system. Things
started well as we arrived at the airport. There was
a train direct from the airport to the city. Brussels
has three main stations - Noord/Nord - in the north
of the city; Centraal/Centrale in the middle and
Zuid/Midi in the south.
Well the train was easy, and we got off at Centraal as it seemed less distance to walk to Phileas Fogg. However, I expected Belgium to be flat but it was a climb up to the north and east, though we passed the parlement buildings and several other grand buildings.
Karin, from Phileas Fogg, explained that the tickets allow you to travel across the three main transport systems: the bus, the trams and the underground. Though there are times when the tram goes underground and the underground travels above ground. The underground is called the metro and the trams the pre-metro. There are clear maps and I would advice getting hold of a map. We got ours in the Tourist Office in the Grand' Place/Grote Markt. The times are at every stop, and they are good timekeepers. the Metro has useful displays of how far away in minutes the next metro is located. The system seems to be run by three companies but the main web site is helpful.
There are several ticket types and we often bought the one-day ticket as we could jump on and off as many times as we wanted for a 24-hour period. But buses and trams do not have change, so stepping on one for the first time and trying to pay with the €10 note was impossible. The tickets get franked in machines at the entrance of the metro or in machines on the trams or buses. There is a lot of trust, but inspections will result in on the spot fines if you don't have a suitable ticket.
Well the train was easy, and we got off at Centraal as it seemed less distance to walk to Phileas Fogg. However, I expected Belgium to be flat but it was a climb up to the north and east, though we passed the parlement buildings and several other grand buildings.
Karin, from Phileas Fogg, explained that the tickets allow you to travel across the three main transport systems: the bus, the trams and the underground. Though there are times when the tram goes underground and the underground travels above ground. The underground is called the metro and the trams the pre-metro. There are clear maps and I would advice getting hold of a map. We got ours in the Tourist Office in the Grand' Place/Grote Markt. The times are at every stop, and they are good timekeepers. the Metro has useful displays of how far away in minutes the next metro is located. The system seems to be run by three companies but the main web site is helpful.
There are several ticket types and we often bought the one-day ticket as we could jump on and off as many times as we wanted for a 24-hour period. But buses and trams do not have change, so stepping on one for the first time and trying to pay with the €10 note was impossible. The tickets get franked in machines at the entrance of the metro or in machines on the trams or buses. There is a lot of trust, but inspections will result in on the spot fines if you don't have a suitable ticket.
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