Vicinal tramway
The Tramways vicinaux or Buurtspoorwegen were a system of narrow gauge tramways or local railways in Belgium, which covered the whole country and had a greater route length than the mainline railway system. They were 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge (metre gauge) and included electrified city lines and rural lines using steam locomotives and diesel railcars; half the system was electrified.
Only the coastal line, the Charleroi metro 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 (11 km (6.8 mi)) and oldest (40 years) tourist tramway is the Tramway Touristique de l'Aisne, or 'TTA', between Erezée and Dochamps. A sponsoring group called 'Tramania' has supported various tramway preservation initiatives for 13 years, in particular financing construction of the Thuin museum and car restoration for TTA.
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 national Vicinal tramway company – Nationale Maatschappij van Buurtspoorwegen (NMVB) in Dutch, Société nationale des chemins de fer vicinaux (SNCV) in French. The majority of lines were 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge, although until 1921 many in the Antwerp area were 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge, later re-gauged. Many lines were built alongside roads, and carried considerable quantities of freight (especially timber and agricultural produce) as well as passengers.
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