Tram Museum 40th anniversary offers free ride in retro trams and buses in Brussels

This Sunday 22 May, 40 historic trams and buses will be cruising Brussels. The Tram Museum in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and for this occasion, public transport operator STIB invites everybody to rediscover its lines upon classic trams and buses.
“Passengers will be able to board the historic vehicles for free. The other vehicles on the network are accessible at the normal rate,” informed STIB through a press release.
The admission to the Tram Museum, founded in 1982 by STIB employees to showcase the rich historical heritage of Brussels public transport, will also be free this Sunday.
Time travel
Between 11 am and 6 pm, trams that ran in the 20th century will replace the ordinary vehicles on tram lines 39 and 44; buses that passed through the city in the 1950s take to the roads alongside part of the lines, giving travellers a memorable journey.
The line names that the old vehicles follow will temporarily be renamed to create a link with lines that used to run in Brussels, and to avoid any confusion with the current lines of the STIB network.
While the current STIB tram models will run between Voot and Ban Eik, via Stockel and the Tram Museum (numbered 160 on Sunday), various historic trams, from Belle Époque ones to trams with “flèches” — a stick that connects the tram to the overhead wire — will take to the tracks on other parts of the line.
Steam tram
The return of “Lucie”, a steam tram from the 19th century, to the streets of Brussels also takes place. Dating from 1890, it was operated by the “Tramways de l’Est de Bruxelles,” and finally left for the United Kingdom in 1987.
Passengers won’t be able to board this locomotive, since it won’t have a carriage, but to see it running on a section of line 8, in front of the Malou castle, in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert.
(VIV)
© BELGA PHOTO (BENOIT DOPPAGNE) Brussels' historical tram dated from 1930's