The financing of the new metro line 3 in Brussels continues to raise questions. It is also an item that keeps popping up in the Belgian press as it was recently revealed that the cost is much higher than first estimated.

Among other things, the Brussels government has now asked the federal government whether it can increase its contribution to the planned works on the metro project precisely because it cannot finance the project independently.

A column in the business newspaper De Tijd/L’Echo now argues that this should be done without much ado for the sake of climate targets and because Brussels is already under-financed in relation to its status.

Four options

On Monday, Brussels Minister for Mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) pointed out during a series of interpellations in the competent committee of the Brussels Parliament that neither the Brussels government nor federal minister Karine Lalieux (PS), responsible for Beliris, the federal building authority for Brussels, have made a choice between the four options listed in the Berlin note on the North Station-Bordet section.

The four options are the confirmation of the project; a suspension pending a budgetary analysis; a substantial modification of the project; and a halt to the project.

However, the Brussels government did ask Belriris to conduct a thorough analysis to objectively identify the reasons for the difference between the estimates of the bids. This should enable Beliris to work out proposals to reduce overall costs.

Federal and EU money needed

The minister also added that by the end of 2022, 158 million had already been spent for the North Station-Albert section and 83 million for the North Station-Bordet section to be put out to tender by the end of 2024.

Van den Brandt reiterated that the Brussels Region alone could not bear the financing of the construction of Metro 3. Therefore, the Brussels government will formally ask the federal government for a contribution and major participation in the Metro North (Nort Station-Bordet) project.

At the same time, Brussels Finance Minister Sven Gatz (Open VLD) has been negotiating with the European Investment Bank for a second loan, this time only for Metro 3, since the beginning of the year.

Is Brussels underfunded, or is there a need for alternatives?

In a column entitled “Brussels metro is a symbol of a troubled city”, L’Echo journalist Latin Narinx now writes that Brussels is underfunded in relation to its status and even treated in a stepmotherly way compared to the capital of neighboring countries, even though the city is “the economic heart of the country”.

According to the author, efficient public transport, which is, of course, not only used by Brussels residents, is also “necessary if we want to meet the climate goals”.

In turn, the platform Avanti! is given a forum in the newspaper La Libre Belgique to argue for alternatives other than the expensive Metro 3 project. According to the platform, the new line would only reduce traffic in Brussels by 0,61% during the morning rush hour – citing a 2012 study by BMN.

The platform rather favors a ‘Prémétro + plan’, which consists of operating three long tram lines (compared with only two today) in the existing Nord-Midi-Albert pre-metro tunnel, thus providing direct links between many Brussels districts while increasing capacity on these routes.

Independent study

Their plan “makes most of all the work already carried out as a part of the Metro 3-project” and “works without any additional structures”. The terminus of the 51 at Albert is, after all, nearing completion; Lemonnier station will be used, and then Toots Thielemans stations when it is completed, and also the existing hopper for Streetcar 3 at Albert. Thus, “only seven to eight additional vehicles are required for an operation which represents a marginal investment cost compared with the Metro 3-project.”

The platform asks to seriously study existing alternatives, such as the Prémétro + plan via an independent study, “to assess the way out of the crisis at the Palais du Midi, not because of the interests of the MIVB/STIB, but those of the district’s residents and shopkeepers”.

The Prémétro + alternative project of the “Avanti! “Platform can be consulted in full at www.premetroplus.be (in French).