News

During the Mobility Committee session on 8 April 2025, several MPs questioned Minister Elke Van den Brandt about the disturbances caused by the M7 metro trains.

The Minister once again acknowledged the seriousness of the issue. She confirmed that speed reduction tests were finally carried out in March, between Montgomery and Tomberg, at the request of the court-appointed expert. However, no results have been made public to date. Residents are still waiting for concrete action. The Minister announced she would ask STIB for a clear timeline.

No structural solution has been implemented so far, despite more than two years of complaints. MPs reminded that the abnormal wear of M7 wheels — which causes excessive noise and vibration levels — has been known for a long time. Several MPs criticised the fact that STIB only acted under judicial pressure, and that some neighbourhoods have been left behind. They also pointed out a lack of transparency and a missing long-term strategy, while residents are seeing cracks appear in their homes, their sleep disturbed, and their mental health deteriorating.

Thank you to the MPs who spoke out to question the Minister and defend citizens affected daily by metro disturbances:

• Amélie Pans (MR, Woluwé-Saint-Lambert)
• Sofia Bennani (Les Engagés, Anderlecht)
• Gilles Verstraeten (N-VA, Anderlecht)
• Jonathan de Patoul (DéFI, Woluwé-Saint-Pierre)
• Oliver Rittweger de Moor (PTB)

Watch the committee session on YouTube (52:35 – 1:27:00)

The speed of the M7 metro trains on line 1 will be reduced between Montgomery and Tomberg stations, from 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM, for a few days in the coming weeks. This test aims to assess whether slowing down the metro could help reduce the noise and vibration nuisances experienced by local residents.

The Montgomery–Tomberg section was selected due to the high number of complaints recorded in this area and for technical reasons that allow representative measurements to be carried out quickly.

This temporary measure follows several steps:

• In November 2024, the Brussels Ombudsman recommended in an official report to consider a night-time speed reduction as a transitional measure, pending a definitive solution.
• This recommendation was relayed in the Brussels Parliament by MPs Amélie Pans and Aurélie Czekalski (MR), who requested that the speed reduction be implemented without delay and maintained until a structural solution is found.

The nuisances suffered by residents living near the metro have been known since 2021 and are linked to a design problem with the wheels of the M7 trains. Despite several actions taken (grinding of rails and wheels, detection of defective wheels), the nuisances persist.

At this stage, the exact dates of the test have not been communicated. The citizen action STOP BRUIT METRO has formally requested the Minister for Mobility, Elke Van den Brandt, to make this information public without delay, so that residents can be properly informed and the test can be monitored transparently.

The citizen action Stop Bruit Metro has launched an interactive map showing the areas of Brussels potentially affected by the noise and vibration nuisances caused by the Brussels metro.

According to our estimates, more than 12,500 residents are impacted by these nuisances. The map is based on a model created using official data, such as the metro routes (Good Move Observatory), population figures by neighbourhood (StatBel), and the addresses of residents who have lodged complaints with Brussels Environment (IBGE), the Ombudsman, or the Justice of the Peace.

Residents can consult the map at the following address: https://stopbruitmetro.be/en/map.

This map aims to show that metro nuisances are not an isolated problem: they affect thousands of residents in Brussels. Stop Bruit Metro invites affected residents to consult the map and report their situation in order to refine the estimates and highlight the scale of the problem.

The citizen action Stop Bruit Metro announces the launch of its website https://stopbruitmetro.be. The purpose of this website is to inform local residents about the noise and vibration nuisances caused by the M7 metro trains in Brussels, and to report on the actions undertaken to address the problem.

The website provides information about the citizen initiatives, the measures in place, the ongoing legal proceedings, as well as reference documents. Residents will also find the demands put forward by the action and the latest news related to the case.

Since 2021, residents living along metro lines 1 and 5 have been suffering from these nuisances, without a definitive solution having yet been implemented.

Stop Bruit Metro invites the affected residents and Brussels citizens to visit the website and to mobilise in order to obtain effective and lasting measures.