According to several French-language newspapers, the Brussels Region will automate its metro network. These ‘driverless’ trains have been discussed for about a decade, but now the goals are becoming more concrete: the first route to run without a human driver will be line 5 Ceria-Erasmus in the summer of 2026.

Eventually, all metros should run driverless, only it is still unclear by when precisely that should happen. Currently, the Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB has about 20 M7 subway carriages that have all the technology on board to run driverless as standard.

Work will start in the summer of 2025 for the three test stations at the end of line 5, namely between the station’s Ceria, Eddy Merckx, and Erasmus. Once those works are completed by mid-2026, such as the installation of the ICT system and adapted signage and platform walls for passengers to get on and off safely, a further rollout on lines 1 and 5 will follow.

It also makes no sense to install these specific platform walls already because there are too many different types of metro carriages driving on the lines today. As a result, the doors of the metro carriages are not in line with the stations everywhere, which could cause difficulties in getting on and off.

New signaling system

Furthermore, the MIVB/STIB signaling renewal, which is currently in full swing on lines 1 and 5, should also be completed. The new signaling for the metro, whether automatic or not, is Communication Based Train Control (CBTC).

This system combines radio signals between metro trains and equipment along the tracks and in technical rooms. That technology does not work with fixed, but variable, and, therefore, much smaller zones. This allows the safety distance and thus the time between two metro trains to be reduced.

Fully automated

In the long term, the entire Brussels metro network should become automated; only it is not yet clear by when. “The Brussels government still has to decide on the schedule,” says Marleen Telemann, director of MIVB/STIB’s metro modernization program in La Libre Belgique.

The intention is that the automatic system will first be rolled out on the new Metro 3 that is still under construction, more specifically, the second section up to Schaerbeek-Evere. Here, the tracks will be equipped from the start with the system. Although, in the meantime, there’s a hitch due to budget problems, which is an explosive increase in costs.

Following Paris and Barcelona

Meanwhile, several European cities are already equipped with the automated system or have automated part of their network. This is the case, for example, in Paris, Lille, Copenhagen, and Barcelona, where the first automated lines went into service in 2009.

The case of Barcelona differs from that of Brussels, as the Catalan city involved new lines created directly for the automatic metro. In Brussels, on the other hand, it will mostly involve the transformation of existing metro lines.

Better frequency and more space

The advantage of the automatic metro is that the frequency of metro traffic can be increased during periods of heavy traffic. Now, the metro runs at the rate of one passage every two-and-a-half minutes. Automation would go below the two-minute mark, thus allowing shorter waiting times, down to just 1 minute 35 seconds between two trains.

At major events in the capital, extra carriages could also be deployed faster. For example, there would be no need to consider the search for available staff. All in all, this should eventually ensure 20% more space on the metro or a potential gain of 3 500 more passengers per hour per direction.

An automatic metro also ensures more safety because, thanks to platform walls, you cannot end up on the tracks. And there is less consumption because an automatic metro uses less electricity.