Lines 107 & 114 La Louvière station –Central Channel

/ Belgium, Cycling, Horse riding, Jogging, Walking / By
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Owner/holder of the abandoned railway:
The general legal framework in the Walloon Region is an emphyteutic lease between Wallonia and the SNCB, allowing the Walloon Region to use the former railways to develop greenways
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Connection between La Louvière station and the Canal du Center via the historic Canal du Center. The itinerary runs through urban and peri-urban area. It is planned the rehabilitation project of the former railway line in RAVeL and repair of engineering structures, in particular 5 bridges, including the Pont Rouge which is classified. Stage: preliminary study.This greenway will allow strategic connections between the RAVEL of the Canal du Centre, the RAVEL of the Canal Historique and the RAVel of Line 422 (La Louvière-Binche and lines 108 and 109 towards Thuin and Erquelinnes). Source: Walloon region, and Velo Ravel Note: The map show an aapproximate itinerary, which will be detailed after the complexion of the technical study.
Total distance: 0 m
Total climbing: 0 m
Total descent: 0 m

This greenway will allow to stablish a connexion with shops and sports centres. This will be a regional interchange node (train and bus station); a link with the schools will also be established.

  • The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx (Hainaut) are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • The four hydraulic boat-lifts together with the canal itself and its associated structures, constitute a remarkably well-preserved and complete example of a late-19th-century industrial landscape. Located over a distance of 7 km, each one covering a change in level of 15 to 16 meters. They are the only ones in the world which still exist in their original working condition.
  • The trees alongside the Canal have been inscribed on the list of remarkable trees and hedges in 1995 (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/856/)
  • Nearby the Louvière, The Bois-du-Luc site, is also UNESCO world heritage Site https://www.lalouviere.be/loisirs/culture/musees/bois-du-luc
Credits: EGWA

Considering the characteristics, the main activities are: cycling, walking, jogging, horse riding,

Credits: Walloon Region

The potential users are cyclists, walkers, horse riders and, most likely, people with reduced mobility (to be confirmed upon completion of the pre-study), as usual  in the RAVel  -greenways. 

There is a plan by Walloon Region for transforming this abandoned railway into a greenway. Stage: pre-study.