According to the organization, the authorities’ responses to the local resident were “adequate“. But regarding the hoped-for end to the nuisance: “None of the answers given, neither by Brussels Environment nor by Stib, allows us to answer this question nor give an idea of the time frame within which a definitive solution will be put in place.“
Woluwe-Saint-Lambert takes the Stib to court over the vibrations of the metro. “It’s unbearable for the residents, they feel abandoned”
Measures not effective enough
The problem is, as a reminder, clearly identified. The wheels of the new M7 metros are defective and wear out too quickly, causing nuisance.
The Stib assures that it wants to replace these dysfunctional wheels, but the industrial process is time-consuming. In the meantime, additional measures have been taken to reduce these noises and vibrations. “However, the nuisance persists, which indicates that the measures adopted are not, or not sufficiently, effective. denounces Ombuds Brussels, for whom “it is no longer possible to consider certain nuisances as inevitable”.
In Auderghem too, local residents denounce an increase in nuisances from the metro, “a rumbling that comes from the ground”: “it is becoming unlivable”
“We cannot reasonably expect impacted citizens to continue to suffer these nuisances without taking action in the meantime. The right to a healthy environment is a fundamental right. Until a definitive solution is provided, other measures must be taken to mitigate and/or compensate for these nuisances.”
Vibrations and nuisances from the metro on line 1-5: “residents can’t take it anymore, some can no longer sleep at night”, denounces an MP from Woluwe
Studies
Several recommendations were made. On the side of Brussels Environment, more studies are requested. On the Stib side, a “definitive replacement schedule for defective wheels” is required.
To temporarily further reduce nuisance, local residents have repeatedly asked the Stib to make the metros run more slowly and to use old trainsets (thus not affected by these wheel problems) in the evening and at night. The organization asks the Stib to justify itself in this regard.
Vibrations of the Brussels metro: this is how the Stib tries to reduce nuisance (PHOTOS AND VIDEO)
More broadly, Ombuds Brussels raises the absence of a sufficient regulatory framework on these issues of structure-borne noise, generated by vibrations.
