STIB Marks 50 Years as CEO Defends Paused Metro 3

Brussels’ public transport operator STIB is celebrating 50 years of metro service this week, but the anniversary has become a stage for defending its most embattled project. STIB CEO Brieuc de Meeus insists the long-delayed Metro 3 line is “not a failure,” even as its northern section sits frozen for budgetary reasons and the project faces a scathing audit and a judicial investigation.

The milestone is marked on Sunday, 20 September 2026 — exactly five decades after King Baudouin inaugurated the Brussels metro on 20 September 1976, with the first service running between De Brouckere and Tomberg. Celebrations include exhibitions, competitions and an open day at the Jacques Brel depot in Anderlecht, chosen partly because 2026 also marks 100 years of the Brussels bus.

A Celebration Shadowed by Metro 3

Speaking on RTBF Vivacite’s “Bruxelles Matin,” broadcast live from De Brouckere station on Thursday, de Meeus pushed back against characterisations of Metro 3 as a debacle.

“No, it is not a failure. Metro 3 is two parts. There is a part we will not do right away, between Gare du Nord and Evere. There is another part we are continuing,” he said, inviting the public to visit what he called a “huge site, still in action.” He framed the delays as part of a broader story: “It’s just the image of the metro’s history, built over 50 years, little by little, site after site, difficulty after difficulty.”

Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) confirmed the northern section is “put on hold,” calling it a budgetary question rather than a choice she welcomes. “It’s not a choice that amuses me as mobility minister,” she said. “The project can restart whenever we want — it’s a political decision.” She said the tunnel beneath the North-South axis will be finished, with trams running underground in the interim to boost capacity and comfort while the Region’s finances remain “very difficult.”

The Numbers Behind the Doubt

The pause follows a bruising assessment of the project’s management. In its 2025 report, Belgium’s Court of Accounts found that nearly everything that could go wrong did — citing “incoherent decision-making,” a “lack of transparency and caution,” and a design that “does not rest on thorough preliminary studies.”

According to BRUZZ, cost estimates for Metro 3 ballooned from EUR 1.3 billion in 2015 — targeting a 2024 opening — to nearly EUR 4.8 billion by the end of 2024, with service now not expected until 2035. Roughly EUR 400 million has already been spent, leaving some EUR 4.4 billion still to finance as the Region’s debt continues to grow. The Court of Accounts also found that part of the funding routed through the federal Beliris agency had already been diverted to other STIB projects.

The audit triggered political fallout, including calls for an independent process manager and a special parliamentary commission, which delivered 22 recommendations in July 2026. A judicial investigation involving the central anti-corruption office (OCRC) was also opened into the irregularities flagged in the report.

A Veteran’s Blunt Diagnosis

Not everyone is as measured as the CEO. Christian Dochy, 80, a retired STIB director of network extension and author of a new book on the metro’s 50 years, told BRUZZ the current troubles stem from a loss of engineering expertise.

“When I think of all the obstacles we overcame in the past and then see how they’re now making idiots of themselves at the Palais du Midi… The answer I got was: ‘Yes, we no longer really have competent people.’ The key really lies there,” he said. Dochy argued the project’s technical choices, including a large tunnel-boring machine and costly ground-treatment methods he says previously failed in Brussels, drove up costs unnecessarily. “If I had the levers for Metro 3… the metro line would already be there,” he said.

Metro 3’s southern interchange hinges on the contested demolition and reconstruction of the Palais du Midi, a heritage market building that has drawn repeated protests. Three organisations mobilised again in September 2026 against its dismantling, as RTBF reported. De Meeus has said the appeal against the demolition costs EUR 1 million per month and has contributed to a 24-month delay.

Belt-Tightening and the Road Ahead

The anniversary arrives amid austerity. STIB represents roughly one sixth of the regional budget and employs about 10,000 people. Since 1 January 2026, a government moratorium on new commitments has left the operator “living a bit on autopilot,” maintaining the same service level as at the start of the year.

“We’re tightening our belts… Doing better with less, I believe is possible. Up to a certain limit, obviously,” de Meeus said. Van den Brandt stressed that not all investment has stopped, pointing to a continued tram line toward Tour et Taxis, and argued STIB remains worth funding. “STIB makes people proud. STIB works in Brussels,” she said, adding that it offers a genuine alternative to the car.

On automation, de Meeus was cautious. Platform screen doors and automatic train operation will be tested at three stations on the Erasme branch, but full automation — needed for a train every 90 seconds — is “not absolutely indispensable today,” he said, noting the system costs hundreds of millions of euros. He suggested it will become necessary in future, as it has in Paris.

De Meeus is set to retire at the end of 2026, with the search for a new CEO having begun in July. As Brussels marks half a century of underground travel, the question of whether its biggest expansion will ever be completed now rests less on engineering than on politics and money.