The Federal Minister for Mobility, François Bellot, made a proposal to solve the difficult problem of linking Charleroi Airport with the rail network. Currently, travellers must travel to Charleroi-South station. The Minister proposes the creation of a new stop on line 140 which links Charleroi to Ottignies.
Will we finally see an efficient connection between Charleroi airport and Brussels City? The creation of a direct train link seems to be postponed indefinitely. But Minister François Bellot is putting forward a new option.
“Following the recent visit of the Federal Minister of Mobility, François Bellot, at Charleroi airport (BSCA) and his meeting with the CEO, Jean-Jacques Cloquet, a possibility of rail link on the Ottignies-Charleroi line allowing the Charleroi airport to be directly connected to Brussels, Leuven and other cities has been identified,” said the cabinet of the minister in a statement addressed to newspapers this Tuesday afternoon. “Assuming that investments must be targeted and optimised while maximising the use of existing infrastructures, Messrs. Bellot and Cloquet identified the possibility to consider a stop at Ransart on the existing line 140 linking Charleroi to Ottignies. At this point, the railway line crosses a national road that joins the airport. The direct distance between the future railway station and the airport is 2 km and the distance by bus could be 3.5 km.”
Minister François Bellot announced in his press release that he will “analyse the feasibility and cost of setting up a “Ransart-BSCA” stop, a modification in the offer of trains (frequency, cities served … ) on line 140 Leuven-Charleroi with a major exchange in Ottignies, on the Brussels-Luxembourg route.” It will also propose the establishment of a working group with SRWT and BSCA to study the connection and use of autonomous shuttles and/or busses to connect the railway stop to the airport.
Source: Sud-Presse
