A kit was distributed to this effect to impacted residents. But some fear the days and weeks to come. “Yes, we were informed, but we did not expect such nuisance“, explains a local resident. “The night was terrible, we were kept awake by a warning siren, the noise of the machines, the vibrations. My five-year-old son woke up around 9 p.m. telling me that he could no longer sleep at cause of noise.“For the latter, incomprehension dominates.
“We absolutely do not question the necessity of this work and honestly, I take my hat off to the teams who work day and night in the cold, the rain and the noise. But we risk not sleeping in the coming weeks so that in the morning, you have to get up and go to work. My husband travels many kilometers to reach his workplace: how can we be sure that he will not fall asleep at the wheel with such poor quality nights?
An exceptional situation
On the Infrabel side, we highlight the exceptional situation of Quaregnon. “We realized, at the end of the summer, that we had a problem linked to the quality of the ground: water accumulates under the tracks and when the trains run, it’s as if they are were on a water mattress, that is to say they sink before returning to their normal position. For safety reasons, we made the decision to limit their speed to 80 kilometers, instead of 80 kilometers. 160, pending a structural solution.”
Solution which is therefore being implemented at the moment. “In one month we will remove the tracks, remove the ballast (the bed of gravel on which the rails rest, Editor’s note) and earth and pour a concrete slab more than 30 centimeters thick over some 360 meters long. We are doing it in one month in order to limit the nuisance over time but also to restore normal traffic speed because we are on a very important rail route.”
1.6 million euros
This situation is rare for Infrabel. “It’s a very local problem. I only remember two areas that had to be treated in this way, in the south of the province of Luxembourg. It’s linked to the uniqueness of the soil, made up of peat, which allows the accumulation of water under the tracks.” With the bad weather in recent months, the ground became so waterlogged that intervention was essential.
“The challenge of the site is to be able to work while maintaining traffic on one lane and then be able to switch to the second and repeat the operation.“, insists Quentin Ferrari, engineer. “The material and financial resources have been made available to implement a lasting solution but this cannot be done in one day.” The project actually represents a budget of 1.6 million euros, paid for by Infrabel.
As for local residents, unfortunately they will have to be patient. The ongoing maneuvers will last until February 6, after which finishing touches – less impactful in terms of nuisance – will be undertaken. Until then, train traffic is adapted between Mons and Saint-Ghislain, and traffic will be interrupted between Mons and Saint-Ghislain on the weekends of January 18 to 19 and February 1 to 2. However, trains will run between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. on January 31 and February 1 and 2, 2025, to allow those who wish to go to the Mons en Lumières festival.
