Hasselt – Maastricht tramway

Sneltram Hasselt - Maastricht
Sneltram Hasselt - Maastricht
Overview
Locale	Province of Limburg, Belgium Maastricht, Province of Limburg, Netherlands
Transit type	fast tram / light rail
Number of lines	1
Number of stations	13
Operation
Operator(s)	De Lijn
Technical
System length	± 30 km.

The Hasselt – Maastricht tramway (Dutch: Sneltram Hasselt - Maastricht) was a proposed light rail system linking Hasselt, Belgian province of Limburg and Maastricht, Dutch province of Limburg. The project was part of the Spartacusplan of Belgian Limburg, proposed by the Belgian transport company De Lijn, with the aim of improving the province's transport links. The tramway's opening was originally scheduled for 2017, then postponed until 2025.^[1]^[2] It was finally cancelled on 10 June 2022 in favour of an electric "trambus".^[3]^[4]

One factor in the project's cancellation was that in order for the tram to reach Maastricht station, the Sint Servaasbrug over the Maas would have needed to be strengthened. The line would therefore have had to terminate at Maastricht Mosae Forum.

Between the two towns, the planned tramway was to follow the course of a disused railway line. It would have improved links in a northeasterly direction between Maastricht and the southern part of the Dutch Limburg province and Antwerp, as currently the only rail service from the Dutch province to Belgium runs south to Liège-Guillemins.

Proposed tram stops

Due to the weakness of the Sint Servaasbrug, the original plan to have the line terminate at Maastricht railway station was abandoned.^[5] Below is the list of future tram stops, as planning stood in September 2020.^[6]

Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

Stop	Location	Opened
Hasselt	Hasselt	1847
Kanaalkom	Hasselt	cancelled
Kolonel Dusartplein	Hasselt	cancelled
Provinciehuis	Hasselt	cancelled
Campus Universiteit Hasselt	Diepenbeek	cancelled
Diepenbeek	Diepenbeek	1856
Beverst	Beverst	cancelled
Munsterbilzen	Bilzen	cancelled
Eigenbilzen	Bilzen	cancelled
Europaplein	Lanaken	cancelled
Sphinxkwartier	Maastricht	cancelled
Mosae Forum	Maastricht	cancelled

References

^ "Akkoord over tram Hasselt-Maastricht" (in Dutch). OV magazine. 2016-12-16. Retrieved 2017-03-19. De sneltram moet vanaf 2021 tussen Hasselt en Maastricht gaan pendelen.
^ "Lanaken wordt met groot tramstation spilpunt van de sneltram om Maastricht te ontlasten" (in Dutch). De Limburger. 2020-12-06. Retrieved 2020-12-19. En o ja: de tram gaat pas in 2025 rijden. Een jaar later dan gepland.
^ "homepage2 - Tram Maastricht-Hasselt". Trammaastrichthasselt.eu. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
^ "Het is zover: elektrische trambussen rijden vanaf 2024 in Limburg maar je zal er ook nu al veel van merken". www.hbvl.be (in Flemish). 2023-06-17. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
^ "Tramplan Maastricht: niet de brug over, toch meer reizigers" (in Dutch). De Limburger. 2018-05-08. Retrieved 2020-09-19. Dat komt doordat vier jaar geleden bleek dat de Wilhelminabrug de tram niet over de Maas kon dragen naar de gedroomde eindhalte bij het station van Maastricht.
^ "Tram Maastricht – Hasselt: wat?" (in Dutch). Tram Maastricht-Hasselt. Retrieved 2020-09-19.