420 ton bicycle-pedestrian tunnel pushed under railway in Langdorp

Infrabel has pushed a new bicycle and pedestrian tunnel under the Leuven-Aarschot-Hasselt railway line in Langdorp. Final work on the tunnel still needs to be finished, but cyclists and pedestrians will be able to use it by the end of this year.

This weekend, the tunnel was moved into place using a unique sliding system, which worked with hydraulic jacks. The colossus weighs 420 tons and is 20 meters long, 5 meters wide, and 3 meters high.

Part of cycle highway Aarschot-Diest

In the coming months, a pump pit and the last part of the concrete tub in which the cycle path will be located will still have to be built on the south side of the track. Also, this tub on the north side still needs to be completed.

The new tunnel replaces the railway crossing that existed on Oudenstokstraat until now. That crossing, too, was only accessible to cyclists and pedestrians. The cycle path, constructed after the summer, is part of the future cycle highway between Aarschot and Diest.

€2 million

Additional tunnel work will occur over the next two weekends, 22-23 and 29-30 June. Infrabel is taking advantage of these line interruptions to carry out other works, including maintenance and renewal of tracks in Tesselt, switches in Aarschot, and platform works in Diest. No trains will run between Aarschot and Hasselt in either direction during these works. NMBS is deploying replacement buses.

Infrabel is investing about 2 million euros in the new tunnel, and the city of Aarschot is investing about 250,000 euros in the new cycle paths.