The new tram in Liège has been in service since the end of April and is proving to be a resounding success. Although no reliable public sources are immediately available, the newspaper Le Soir reports 100,000 users per week, which would amount to more than 2 million passengers to date.
The only downside is that car drivers still seem to be getting used to the presence of the tram in the streets and the associated right-of-way rules. On average, there is more than one collision between other road users and a tram per week.
More than 20 collisions
“We have exceeded the milestone of 100,000 validations per week twice in a row,” says Daniel Wathelet, head of communications for the Liège tram in Le Soir. “This is putting pressure on the teams and equipment, because some streetcar devices are unavailable.”
After all, success also has a downside. Usually, 18 trams run during rush hours, but due to the high number of collisions between trams and cars – more than one per week – only 15 are currently available.
The fact that a streetcar weighs around 64 tons and needs several dozen meters to stop undoubtedly plays a role here, although other road users still need to understand that trams always have the right of way. More specifically, of the 26 accidents recorded since the tram was introduced, half involved another vehicle, two involved cyclists, one involved an e-scooter, and ten involved pedestrians.
Bus services have deteriorated
And there is another unpleasant side to the matter. On social media, quite a few Walloons are expressing their dissatisfaction with the fact that the trams are overcrowded, which also indicates that the capacity of the buses is insufficient.
This week, the TEC in Liège has started using the Busway line, but residents of some remote neighborhoods feel that bus services have deteriorated at the same time.
According to Combali, a collective for mobility in Liège, it appears that in some places the frequency and amplitude of bus services have indeed decreased since the arrival of the tram. Reliability has also deteriorated, with buses running late, being overcrowded during rush hour, or simply not arriving.
Petition for extension of tram network
The issue has already prompted several questions to be raised in the Walloon Parliament. Walloon Minister of Mobility François Desquesnes (Les Engagés) has also indicated that a meeting with TEC is planned for September 23rd. In the meantime, changes have reportedly been made to specific lines.
In May, supporters of an extension of the tram network in Liège submitted a petition with 1,114 signatures to the Mobility Committee of the Walloon Parliament. They ask for an extension to be put back on the table.
The previous Walloon government had approved an extension of the Liège tram to Herstal and Seraing, but the current government canceled the plans in August last year. According to the initiator of the petition, this happened “too quickly and without reason,” leaving thousands of people in the suburbs of Liège out in the cold.
Spicy detail: The Belgian subsidiary of Colas, the builder of the Liège tram line, closed in the red again last year. Its accounts showed losses of 50 million euros, mainly attributed to the Liège construction site.
In five years, the company, which is part of the French Colas Group, and that group in turn belongs to the French industrial group Bouygues, will have already lost 143 million euros.
