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With 3,513 km of railways Belgium has a very dense railway network. The entire railway network is managed by the public enterprise Infrabel .

Access to the Belgian railway network

The network statement  is published every year by Infrabel and consists of a description of the network and the access conditions of this network.

Every enterprise seeking access to the Belgian railway network must meet the following conditions:

• Being recognised as a railway undertaking (RU); for that the undertaking must have a licence. Such a licence is valid in the entire European Union. In Belgium this licence is delivered by the minister of Mobility (in practice this licence is issued by the Directorate for Development and Support of a Sustainable Transport Policy and Railways (in French: Direction Développement et Support aux Politiques de Mobilité durable et Ferroviaire );
• Holding a safety certificate issued by the national safety body. The general part (part A) is valid in the entire European Union. The particular part (part B) is valid in only one member state. In Belgium safety certificates are issued by the DRSI – Department of Railway Safety and Interoperability (in French: Service de Sécurité et d’Interopérabilité des Chemins de Fer (SSICF) ; Railway undertakings (RU) with safety certificate valid on the Belgian Railway network.
• Holding railway infrastructure capacity (paths), accorded by Infrabel – Directorate Access to the Network (in French: Infrabel – Direction Accès au Réseau .

In order to actually use the railway network, a railway undertaking must make a contract of use (CU) with Infrabel - Directorate Access to the Network.