[hkskyline]

Transport strikes spark havoc in Belgium

BRUSSELS, May 13 (AFP) - Strikes over management cost-cutting plans and wages by train and bus drivers created traffic chaos in Belgium on Friday and disrupted major services to London and Paris, union officials said.

In Brussels, Eurostar trains to London and high-speed Thalys trains to Paris stopped running from mid-morning.

A strike had been scheduled for the afternoon, but union officials said an incident between an angry passenger and a rail service employee made them bring their planned two-hour stoppage from midday forward.

Regular SNCB state services from other major cities to the capital had stopped running at midnight, but began slowly returning to normal after 2:00 p.m. (1200 GMT), a spokeswoman said.

Marc Heinen from the CSC union said the strike is over a new "management contract" which the unions believe could result in the loss of some 2000 jobs.

Bus drivers in towns including Charleroi, Verviers, Nivelles and Lasne also held stoppages on Friday aimed at pushing through new wage claims.

 

[De Snor]

Railway bridge of Moresnet , Belgium

This 1170 meter long bridge -the longest steel bridge in Europe- connects Montzen and Aachen West.
It was built during WW1 and got destroyed three times in 1918,1940 and 1944.
Between 1947 and 1949 the bridge got fixed and entirely painted in 1973.

Two companies Galère and Aelterman , builded an entire new bridge , costs € 23,40 million and it took 1100 days of labour between 2002 and 2004 , the most important part were the 22 metal plates.

Some pictures of the bridge who is heavely used as a freight train traffic between Belgium and Germany.

 

[patroeski]

Calatrava's new TGV Liège-Guillemins station - Belgium

The new station has been relocated 150 metres nearer the Meuse than the current building. The aim of this is to build rectilinear platforms to make entering the station and boarding trains easier. Of the present 13 platforms, only 9 will remain and the 5. 8-metre wide platforms will be particularly spacious and convenient. Three of them, 450 metres long, will be able to accommodate double unit Thalys trains.
The station will essentially be on three levels: travel centre and subway, platforms, and lastly the footbridges.
From the subway, the platforms can be accessed via stairs, escalators and glass elevators. From the footbridges, they are accessed via stairs and escalators. Travelators [moving walkways] located on the Meuse side, convey passengers effortlessly from the platforms towards the footbridges.

Movie:

Progress:

 

[Brendan]

Very interesting design, thankyou for posting this.

 

[officedweller]

Nice!
The roof design looks to have been changed from the model shown in the first picture..

 

[patroeski]

Here are some more pics:

http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/24143/gare06.jpg


Here is a 360° panoramic view (you can also watch it fullscreen): http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/worldwidepanorama/wwp906/html/AlainHamblenne.html

 

[Bitxofo]

Wonderful transformation!!
:drool::drool:
I lived in Liège in 1995 and this was Liège Guillemins station until 2002:

^^What a difference...
:eek2::eek2:

 

[mr.x]

It does look amazing.......but it's also getting tiring. Everything Calatrava designs is basically the same style......from the tower in Chicago, NYC World Trade Centre station, OAKA in Athens, etc.

 

[DrT]

Thnx for posting patroeski.
Really makes one believe that we have moved into the 21'st century.
Makes me feel like we are in the stone age here in the US. We do not have TGV's, much less train stations that look like that.

 

[patroeski]

^^

no problem, I didn't know they don't got high-speed trains in the US.

 

[sweek]

Wonderful transformation!!
:drool::drool:
I lived in Liège in 1995 and this was Liège Guillemins station until 2002:

^^What a difference...
:eek2::eek2:

Haha yes, it certainly is a big improvement. I think it's a bit too much for what it is though, which probably has a lot to do with the strange percentage rules of what has to be spent in Wallonia compared to what's spent in Flanders.
This station only gets 36.000 passengers a day, which really isn't that much.

 

[lpioe]

You can clearly see it's a Calatrava
I like it a lot.
Is this station only for high speed trains?

 

[sweek]

You can clearly see it's a Calatrava
I like it a lot.
Is this station only for high speed trains?

No, it is the main station for the city, all trains go there.
I think there's only a high speed train every hour(?)

 

[eusebius]

The first station built in Lièges looked much better than the modern one that's currently being replaced by the Calatrava designed one.

Lièges is tied to the TGV network as well as to the ICE network Given its size, Lièges is well connected.

 

[Brice]

Calatrava is so boring, always the same design!

 

[patroeski]

Calatrava is so boring, always the same design!

He always makes his buildings in the same style, but his designs are never the same.

 

[Songoten2554]

so what his design is awsome i like his design its his signature style in a way its futuristic

 

[patroeski]

I didn't say its bad that an architect has his own style, on the contrary, he has created a style that no architect ever had before.

 

[CharlieP]

Aaargh! Another off-topic thread in Subways and Urban Transport! I think I'm going to have to start a petition...

 

[micro]

There's not much variation, that's true.