The Brussels Metro (French: Métro de Bruxelles, Dutch: Brusselse metro) is a rapid transit system serving a large part of the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It consists of a network with four metro line services with some shared sections. The metro has 49.9 km of network and 59 stations. The premetro network in Brussels consists of two underground sections used by otherwise open-air Brussels tram lines and designed so as to be convertible to conventional metro lines. Underground stations in the premetro network use the same design as metro stations. Additionally, a few short underground tramway sections exist, which makes 51.9 km of metro and underground tram network and 69 metro and premetro stations as of 2008.
Most of the common section of the first two metro lines (between De Brouckère metro station and Schuman station) was inaugurated on December 17, 1969 as premetro (thus with tramways), and was converted in 1976 to the first two lines of the actual metro (which was then considered as one line with two branches) between De Brouckère and Tomberg and De Brouckère and Beaulieu. The Brussels metro is administered by STIB/MIVB (French: Société des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles, Dutch: Maatschappij voor het Intercommunaal Vervoer te Brussel). In 2008 the Brussels metro has been used for a total of 135.5 million journeys. The Brussels metro is an important means of transportation in Brussels, which connects with 6 railway stations of the National Railway Company of Belgium, as well as with many Brussels tram and bus stops operated by STIB/MIVB and with Flemish De Lijn and Walloon TEC bus stops.
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