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Antwerp Transportation

Updated:2012-02-23 By：seven

Abstract:Road motorway bypass encircles much of the city centre. Known locally as the "Ring" it offers motorway connections to Brussels, Hasselt and Liège, Ghent, Lille and Bruges and Breda and Bergen op Zoom (Netherlands). The banks of the Scheldt are linked by three road tunnels (in order o...

Road motorway bypass encircles much of the city centre. Known locally as the "Ring" it offers motorway connections to Brussels, Hasselt and Liège, Ghent, Lille and Bruges and Breda and Bergen op Zoom (Netherlands). The banks of the Scheldt are linked by three road tunnels (in order of construction): the Waasland Tunnel (1934), the Kennedy Tunnel (1967) and the Liefkenshoek Tunnel (1991). Daily congestion on the Ring led to a fourth high volume highway link called the "Oosterweelconnection" being proposed. It would entail the construction of a long viaduct and bridge (the Lange Wapper Bridge) over the docks on the north side of the city. Eventually the plans were rejected in a public referendum in 2009, thus causing further delays. In September 2010 the Flemish Government decided to replace the bridge by a series of tunnels.

Rail

Antwerp Central StationAntwerp is the focus of lines to the north to Essen and the Netherlands, east to Turnhout, south to Mechelen, Brussels and Charleroi via Luttre, and southwest to Ghent and Ostend. It is served by international trains to Amsterdam and Paris, and national trains to Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, Brussels, Charleroi, Hasselt, Liège, Leuven and Turnhout.

Antwerp Central station is an architectural monument in itself, and is mentioned in W G Sebald's haunting novel Austerlitz. Prior to the completion in 2007 of a tunnel that runs northwards under the city centre to emerge at the old Antwerp Dam station, Centraal was a terminus. Trains from Brussels to the Netherlands had to either reverse at Centraal or call only at Berchem station, 2 km to the south, and then describe a semicircle to the east, round the Singel. Now, they call at the new lower level of the station before continuing in the same direction.

Antwerp is also home to Antwerpen-Noord, the largest classification yard for freight in Belgium and second largest in Europe. The majority of freight trains in Belgium depart from or arrive here. It has two classification humps and over a hundred tracks.

City transportationThe city has a web of tram and bus lines operated by De Lijn and providing access to the city centre, suburbs and the Left Bank. The tram network has 12 lines, of which the underground section is called the "premetro" and includes a tunnel under the river.

Air

Antwerp International Airport is in the district of Deurne. CityJet flies to London (City Airport) and Manchester in England and remains the only airline with scheduled air services to and from Antwerp International Airport. The airport is connected by bus to the city center. Brussels Airport is about 45 km from the city of Antwerp, and connects the city worldwide. The airport is connected by bus and by train to the city centre of Antwerp. There is also direct a rail service between Antwerp and Charleroi, home to Brussels South Charleroi Airport, which runs every hour.

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