Brussels tram route 81
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| STIB/MIVB Route 81 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery – Marius Renard | |||||
 PCC 7942 on the Avenue Fonsny/Fonsnylaan | |||||
| Overview | |||||
| System | Brussels tramway network | ||||
| Operator | STIB/MIVB | ||||
| Depot | Saint-Gilles, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre | ||||
| Vehicle | PCC 7700/7800 PCC 7900 | ||||
| Status | Operational | ||||
| Began service | 1 May 1914 | ||||
| Route | |||||
| Locale | Brussels, Belgium | ||||
| Communities served | Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Etterbeek Ixelles City of Brussels Saint-Gilles Anderlecht | ||||
| Start | Montgomery | ||||
| End | Marius Renard | ||||
| Length | 13.8 km (8.6 mi) | ||||
| Service | |||||
| Journey time | 55 minutes | ||||
| |||||
Tram route 81 in Brussels, Belgium, is a tram route operated by STIB/MIVB, which connects the Marius Renard stop in the municipality of Anderlecht with the multimodal Montgomery metro station in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. The route also crosses the municipalities of Saint-Gilles, Ixelles, the City of Brussels and Etterbeek. It connects with the Metro at Saint-Guidon/Sint Guido, Brussels-South (also railway), Merode (also railway) and Montgomery. The route also crosses the major tram routes 3 and 4 at Horta. A good deal of its length is in carriageway, while long sections at either end are in reservation. It has a short section in tunnel at Brussels-South.
History
[edit]The route was changed in the 2000s, with the section west from Brussels-South railway station going to Marius Renard rather than Heysel/Heizel metro station.
Until 2018, the route was served by PCC trams – first 7700-series and later the longer 7900s. In that year, the stops at Bailli/Baljuw were moved from the central reservation of the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan into the Rue du Bailli/Baljuwstraat, which has permitted the longer Flexity low-floor trams to be used when these are not needed elsewhere, that is normally at weekends. This progression to high-capacity vehicles accompanies an improvement in service frequency, with the daytime headway now being 71/2 minutes.
Route
[edit]Montgomery - Merode - Place St Pierre/Sint-Pietersplein - Acacias/Acacia - La Chasse/De Jacht - Église Saint-Antoine/Sint-Antoonkerk - Germoir/Mouterij - Levure/Gist - Flagey - Dautzenberg - Bailli/Baljuw - Trinité/Drievuldigheid - Janson - Moris - Lombardie/Lombardije - Barrière/Bareel - Guillaume Tell/Willem Tell - Bethléem/Bethlehem - Avenue du Roi/Koningslaan - Suède/Zweden - Gare du Midi/Zuidstation - Bara - Conseil/Raad - Albert I - Curegham/Kuregem - Douvres/Dover - Résistance/Verzet - Saint-Guidon/Sint-Guido - Meir - Ysaye - Van Beethoven - Frans Hals - Parc Vivès/Vivèspark - Marius Renard.[1]
