Already in the 18^th century, Belgium was known for the good condition of its roads and its extensive system of canals. With the arrival of the industrial revolution however, new technologies expanded the scale of trade and industry so that the traditional means of transportation no longer sufficed. The problem could be solved via the construction of a railroad network, based upon the British invention (Stephenson, 1825) of steam engine based locomotives. For the newly independent state that Belgium was in 1831, 2 other good reasons existed for the construction of such a railway network.

Firstly, Belgium needed a new means for the transportation of its exports to Germany and France. Before its independence, most of its export goods were transported on the big rivers. However, those were controlled by the Netherlands and could no longer be used due to the bad relationship between the two countries.

Secondly, the coal and iron industry had suffered a lot from the revolution and needed a new impetus. It soon turned out that the building of railroads played a key role in the boom that occurred in those industries in the 1830s and 1840s. Already in 1836, total Belgian coal production was higher than that of France or Prussia.

After 4 years of discussion and fierce debate in the Belgian Parliament («would man still be able to breathe normally at such speed?» was one of the issues largely discussed) the first steam-railroad, connecting Brussels with Malines, was opened in 1835. It became the first regular passenger railway service on the European Continent. This was the beginning of a public network of which the basis (a north-south and east-west axe from border to border) was completed in 1868.

The government however, wasn’t the only one to build railroads as many concessions had been allowed to private companies (in the beginning almost uniquely for the transportation of coal from the mines in southern Belgium). In fact, the first private railway, the « S.A. des Chemins de Fer du Haut et du Bas Flénu », was used to transport coal. It submitted its request for a concession in 1831, but only received permission in 1833. By the inauguration on March 7 in 1836, 13 coalmines were connected and 7 others followed during the same year. At first, horse traction was used and the railroad suffered from technical problems and a lack of financial means. Only after a number of loans from the « Société Générale », could the company be modernised. Unfortunately, it kept on suffering from financial difficulties and was finally taken over by the government during the 1870s.

Another key moment in Belgian railroad history took place in 1842 with the construction of a railway between Antwerp and Gent. It was not only the first privately owned company for passenger transport in Belgium, but it was also very well managed and enjoyed several technical improvements. As a consequence, the company proved to be one of the most profitable European railroads throughout the nineteenth century. For instance, it earned 8,9% on its capital in 1861. This is however still a lot lower than the return of 12% to 15% earned by American railroads.

Nevertheless, between 1845 and 1869 another 59 new railway companies were established. On average they raised between 10 and 25 million francs (about 25 million and 62,5 million Euro in current money) and their total capital accounted for 1/3 of the total amount raised by all private limited companies in that period. Many of these private companies built lines (often literally) next to a government-owned line. Logically, competition was fierce and safety had very low priority resulting in multiple accidents (e.g. on the line Brussels – Arlon, on average one man a day was killed).

From 1870 till 1900, the number of privately owned companies decreased enormously. Most concessions offered the Belgian government the possibility to buy back (at rather high prices) the railroads. From 1870 on, the authorities made use of this possibility in order to eliminate the competition, to get rid of foreign capital and thus strategic foreign influence (mainly French and English, see CDF du Nord and Belgian Eastern Junction RR) and to technically standardise the network. Most financial groups eagerly accepted as many of the railway lines turned out to be less profitable than expected. As a result, in 1900 the Belgian government owned 90% of all Belgian railroads whereas this was only a mere 30% in 1870!

In 1913, the public Railway Company started with a feasibility study of the use of electric power. However, it would last until 1935 before the first railway (Antwerp-Duquesne) was electrified and it was only in 1966 that the last steam train disappeared.

In 1926, the government established the NMBS («Nationale maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen » or the National Society of Belgian Railroads) in order to manage the Belgian railway system more efficiently. Minority private shareholders were allowed, but had no voting rights.

From those days on, the Belgian railways started to suffer from the competition by other means of transportation. For instance: it took 50 years for the 1926’record of total number of passengers a year to be broken! The freight business was even worse off. No wonder many unprofitable railway-stations were closed (from 780 in 1914 to 350 in 1978), resulting in a 20% decrease of the total length of the Belgian railroad network. Yet, international comparisons show that Belgium still has the world’s densest railroad network, as it has had since the 19^th century.