When Trams Done Right Transit Vehicles at Work in Brussels, Belgium

When Trams Done Right Transit Vehicles at Work in Brussels, Belgium

Hello everyone and welcome to the Transit Nomad family. In this video, we are going to check out and see what happens when trams done right and we’re going to be looking at some transit vehicles at work in Brussels, Belgium. Before we get started, I’d like to let you know that I’m in Belgium for a couple of weeks. And at the end of this trip, I’ll be recording my final verdict video comparing Belgium with other countries to help you decide if you should visit while also saving you lots of time and money with practical tips on how to get the most out of your trip. This will be an exclusive video, but you can easily gain access to it by subscribing or donating any amount on buy me a coffeeop.com/transit or through the link in the video description below. With that being said, let’s begin checking out this tram hub and see what it has to offer. [Music] It’s where there’s like an Instagram page. [Music] We are currently located at Louise station. If I’m pronouncing it correctly, it’s in the central area of Brussels. It does have trams, buses, metro intersecting. It is a popular shopping destination and also a sightseeing destination. And there are several different lines that meet at this specific location. I was hoping to catch some older trams. Unfortunately, most of them have been retired, at least unfortunately for me because I like older trams. I was hoping to ride the PCC tra. Um, but it appears that as of August of 2025, um, if you want to catch PCC trams, the best place would be the line number 44 and line number 40, uh, 44 and 39. That’s where I still saw a lot of PCC trams operating. But in this part of town on these lines, it’s mostly the newer trams, which uh, is still fine. It’s just that I was looking for vintage transit vehicles on this trip. [Music] You can also see a bus making its way through this intersection roundabout. It It is an IBACO bus. I see a lot of these in Belgium. I love this cute bell sound. Old school bell sound. And you can see one tram just left and the following tram is about to arrive at the station. We’re going to take a look at the frequencies and schedules and information signs and see what what is being offered for transit users in Brussels. [Music] Let’s see how long the boarding takes. I do notice that a lot of signs are not in English. So, if you’re expecting English signs, Brussels might not be the right place. Most of it is either in French or in Spanish, which is a dialect of Dutch. And I thought that everything would be translated in English for visitors, tourists since it is an international destination um the heart of European Union but that is not the case. [Music] I do notice how buses are stopping and also cars how they stop for pedestrians. It is something that is not as common in some other cities. I’ve visited in the past. For example, I came here from London. And in London, uh, they don’t always stop. They just try to get, uh, get through the intersection. If they think they have a chance to make it, they’re going to try. [Music] In this case, it looks like uh the driver of the tram was a little bit upset because people were not letting the tram go. Usually in Europe, trams have the priority over uh people. I’m not sure how exactly it works in Brussels, but it appears to be the case. But then people have a priority over buses. I wouldn’t know what how it is in Brussels because the signs are not in English. But if you know, please leave a comment below. I’m pretty sure everybody wants to know too, but usually I see buses and cars stopping and letting you cross even before you start crossing, which is kind of unusual. And it definitely feels feels u great to be honest. If you are a pedestrian, you feel respected in that way. It feels great. So, let’s begin making our way to the actual tram stop so we can see what exactly it has to offer. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] As you may probably know, they have a lot of places where you have to go underground in order to board the tram. They run underground in Brussels. And I noticed that sometimes you have to scan your ticket multiple times to get in or out. Today, for example, I was getting out at one of the stops and it took me three times scanning it to get out. [Applause] [Applause] Generally speaking, um, paying for public transportation in Brussels, um, and trying to figure out which tickets to buy for what zone and what the best value is. They have a lot of different offers is not as straightforward as in some other cities. It takes some time figuring that out and the pricing is not cheap. Um, I’ve seen a lot of cities where buses and trams are a lot more affordable than here. Um, the single ride journey, if you don’t take advantage of any discounts, buying multiple tickets or passes at the same time, it starts at €3 even if it’s just a one-stop ride, which is rather expensive. And it’s valid for only up to 60 minutes. So, if you are taking a tram to the train station and then you want to change to the city train and ride another stop and the train departs 20 minutes later, your pass is about to expire, you have to activate a new pass and spend another three or even more, which I certainly do not appreciate. I wish they were a little bit more generous about the time that’s included in the tickets in the passes. So we can see three different trimm lines stopping here [Music] and we can see the schedules over here. I see that it looks like the frequency is usually most of the time it’s uh 10 minutes or less. It looks like it’s 7 to 10 minutes or something like that on line 93. And Let’s see what else. There’s a map so you know where you are, what’s around you. On line number eight, most of the time the frequency is 10 to 12 minutes. Actually, 7 to 12 minutes. And over here, I see trams departing every 6 minutes. And on line number 92, it also looks like the trams are running every six minutes during peak hours in the morning, in the evening, and then running every also kind of every 7 to 10 minutes at other times. So the frequencies are under 10 minutes, which is a great thing. I believe that is the way it should be. I don’t think there’s anybody who wants to wait for the tram for more than 10 minutes. And uh I wish that American cities could learn from this and try to get more funding or improve the efficiency of their operations to be able to offer frequencies under 10 minutes. As you can see here, the frequencies on these tram lines are 6 to 7 minutes. most of the time up to 10 minutes during less popular hours. But still, it’s all under 10 minutes. Whereas in many destinations in the United States, it’s 30 minutes, sometimes an hour, sometimes 15 minutes if you’re lucky. But it’s very hard to find any lines that operate um more frequently than every 15 minutes in the United States. I’m talking about trimm or trolley lines, street car lines. You can see that boss in the distance. So why did I call this video when trams done right? Because frequencies and operating hours are very important. Also the convenience of transfers that is also very important. Um affordability of fairs is also very important. Uh definitely Belgium could improve a lot of these things but generally speaking I feel that they did a lot of things right because you can see trams arriving every minute or two and you can see a lot of people are using it. Um all kinds of people. I’m pretty sure it’s a very diverse crowd with different kind of backgrounds and income levels, not just the poor people. Why? Because it’s very convenient. It’s easier to take a tram, take a seat, relax, do some work, um read, listen to some music, read a book as opposed to driving and worrying about traffic and parking and insurance and maintenance and all of that stuff. It’s easier to ride a tram. So, I hope that um we can learn from this and uh improve our transit systems in the United States. [Music] And you can also see a lot of transit oriented development. It’s kind of natural here because most of this stuff was built uh before there were cars. But still we should learn from this and build build uh cities this way in the United States especially um busy areas busy cities where land is in high demand. We need to improve public transportation and discourage people from driving because there isn’t enough room for cars. Imagine if everybody who’s on this ram decided to drive instead. It looks like this tram is almost empty because maybe the next stop is the last stop or something like that. But imagine if all these people riding these trams decided to drive and how many cars it will require and uh how much space is going to take on the street. So, I’m very happy to see this. And there’s also a bigger map over here. I couldn’t film it earlier because there were people standing here, but there is a lot of information that might be helpful for people who don’t know what’s going on. There is also an information sign with um estimated trail arrival times, but it appears that it’s not working at this moment. Uh because it’s the screen is kind of blank. But it does appear to be working on the other side. Yep. Right over here. You can see it working. I hope you can see something. It’s so sunny right now that it’s a little bit difficult to see. But, uh, what I’m seeing is number eight. It says 22. [Music] It looks like there’s some kind of disruption or delay in service or something like that. And what else does it say? It says 93 is coming in 4 minutes, in 3 minutes now, and number eight is coming in 9 minutes, followed by 92 in 10 minutes, followed by 93 in 15 minutes. So you can see a lot of different trams um including the departure times which is very convenient for people who are riding public transportation. That is what they want to see. They want to know exactly when this tram is going to arrive or when this bus is going to arrive without having to download a bunch of apps, text certain phone numbers, figure it out. Well, we want to make it as easy as possible for people to know where to go and how long it’s going to take and how to get there and what to expect. So, the main disadvantage I see here in Brussels is that um it’s very expensive to ride public transportation in 2025, especially in comparison with other cities. Um and the apps for paying for transit are complicated to um navigate for visitors. You have to know the um logo of each transit agency that you’re riding with in order to choose the correct pass. And there are so many options to choose from that are not very clear and straightforward. There are also different zones outside of the city center that you need to be aware of and a lot of different passes and a lot of them are very expensive and valid for a short amount of time. So, I wish it was a little bit more straightforward, easier, more affordable. Also, there’s no way to scan smartphones inside buses or inside trams, which is a little bit ridiculous. Uh, but then there’s no way to tap your credit card on the train. So you you can’t use one method of payment everywhere unless you have you start having to explain the driver that you already have this um and you don’t need to pay again and it gets complicated. And some people who work on the transit system, they don’t even know what kind of ticket I got. Even though I I got it in my phone and it’s an official ticket that’s supposed to work on their buses, they don’t know what kind of ticket that is and how to use it and where to scan it. So, it’s something that um Brussels could definitely do better. But other than that, we can see the trams are operating very frequently and efficiently and they have a priority and they have a separated track. They’re not sharing too much space with cars. And you can see uh the tram stopped for maybe 20 seconds and left right away. And on this note, I want to point out that as an active traveler and business owner with experience, I might be able to assist you with trip planning, life coaching, and business consulting with all the details available at buy me a coffeeop.com/transit nomad or through the link in the video description below. And this is where you can also find lots of exclusive content on many different cities across the globe, my secret tips, PDF guides, and the option to request a custom video on any topic that matters to you. Thank you everyone for watching, commenting, liking, and subscribing. I appreciate you being a part of the Transit family and look forward to seeing you in my future videos. Bye-bye. Yeah. Heat.

This “When Trams Done Right” episode shows transit vehicles at work in Brussels, Belgium. This city has one of the busiest tram systems in Europe, carrying hundreds of thousands of passengers every day. Here you’ll see trams navigating the streets, sharing space with cars and stopping to pick up passengers. Running on both street-level tracks and underground premetro tunnels, Brussels light rail is the perfect example of how well-designed trams can shape urban mobility. For buying discounted public transportation passes, I recommend downloading and installing SNCB app.

I’m in Belgium for a couple of weeks, and at the end of this trip, I’ll be recording my final verdict video, comparing Belgium with other countries to help you decide if you should visit while also saving you time and money with practical tips on how to get the most out of your trip. This will be an exclusive video, but you can easily gain access to it by subscribing or donating any amount on https://BuyMeACoffee.com/TransitNomad

As an active traveler and business owner with experience, I might be able to assist you with trip planning, life coaching and business consulting with more details at https://BuyMeACoffee.com/TransitNomad/membership. This is where you’ll also find lots of exclusive content on different cities across the globe, my secret tips, PDF guides and the option to request a custom video on any topic that matters to you.

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I’m Transit Nomad, a world traveler, business owner, music composer, filmmaker and life coach on a mission to explore cities through the lens of public transportation. With every single donation or subscription, you’re not only making it possible for me to create new videos but are also gaining access to a private community with like-minded people and exclusive content.

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When Trams Done Right Transit Vehicles at Work in Brussels, Belgium https://youtu.be/9MZKG_Bss1w