Schuman-Josaphat tunnel

Benefits of the project include reducing the journey time from the European Quarter (Brussels-Schuman and Brussels-Luxembourg railway stations) to the airport from half an hour to less than 15 minutes by opening a direct route and avoid having to change at Brussels-North railway station,[4] as well as opening a parallel route through Brussels to take pressure off the saturated North–South connection The project began in June 2008 and was planned to take 1,645 days to complete.

[7] The opening date was designed in the framework of the Brussels RER 2015 plan, which had to be modified until the tunnel could be put into service.

[9] The cost of the tunnel is estimated at €210 million, funded through Beliris, a joint venture between the Belgian Federal State and the Brussels Region.

Unusual construction techniques were used to limit disturbance to local residents and protect the appearance of Brussels.

Elsewhere, the tunnel passes close beneath the cellars of buildings, and in any case delivering a TBM in central Brussels would have created great disruption.