Part 1: Public transport in Antwerp, Belgium, is provided by De Lijn, the Flemish regional transport authority. Horse trams started operating in Antwerp on the 25th May 1873, electrification and a change of gauge (the horse trams were 4' 8½", the electric trams metre gauge) followed, with the first electric trams running on the 2nd September 1902. The 150th anniversary was celebrated on the 28th May 2023 with a tram parade and operation of trams from the Flemish Bus and Tram Museum on a circular route to the city centre. The parade started at Havenhuis, normally the terminus of route 24. This is one of the most recent extensions to the Antwerp tramway system, opening in 2019. The parade ran down Mexicostraat, turning on to Londenbrug and Amsterdamstraat, terminating at Eilandje, the terminus of route 7. Several historic trams took part plus trams from the current fleet including PCC cars and one of the latest CAF Urbos 100 trams. Included in the parade was a Vicinal tram dating from the 1940's, the Vicinal ran a number of interurban routes in the Antwerp area, the last of which closed in 1968. There was also a horse tram, which was a former Vicinal trailer car, and a horse bus, both of these were giving rides in Eilandje.

Part 2: Trams in Antwerp City Centre. Several Antwerp tram routes run in tunnels in the city centre, there is however a lot of surface track including recently opened tracks on Italiëlei and Frankrijklei for routes 1 and 24.

Part 3: Trams in the Antwerp suburbs. The tram routes in Antwerp run out to several termini on the edge of the city, this chapter features trams at various termini such as Hoboken, Silsburg and Wignegem, as well as places on the way to the end of the line. The outer section of route 24 to Havenhuis is also covered. All the types of tram that are currently in service can be seen although since making this film, some of the PCC trams have been withdrawn, and in October 2023 PCC's can only be seen on routes 7 and 8. More of the CAF Urbos 100 trams are on order, these will replace the last of the PCC trams, although the ex-Gent double-ended PCC's will last as long as they are needed for route 12.

Part 4: A Visit to the Kusttram, The Belgian Coastal Tramway. The Kusttram runs from the station at De Panne near the French border, along the Belgian coast to Knokke station which is near the Dutch border. At almost 42 miles this was the longest tram route in the world, recently though the Los Angeles Metro opened a connecting line in central LA, the through route from Long Beach to Asuza is 49 miles long. The coastal tramway has been upgraded with 48 new CAF Urbos 100 low floor trams known as 'Zeelijners', in May 2023 when this film was made, there were still 12 of the 1980's BN trams in service, they have since been withdrawn, some of these trams can be seen in this chapter.

Subtitles, no commentary, enjoy the sights and sounds of the trams of Antwerp and Kusttram.

Produced by - Bob Hodges Transport DVD's
Running time - 70 Minutes
Format - 16:9 Widescreen PAL (UK)
DVD only
Released - November 2023