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Lignes 98 du Borinage
Family
38 km
De Mons à Quiévrain et aux Honnelles
The Borinage retains links to a prestigious industrial past which created wealth in Europe. As a result, many small railway tracks were built here and used to carry the workforce and the coal. These lines, converted into RAVeL paths, are now open to you.
These four sections of the Borinage RAVeL (Lines 98, 98A, 98B and 98C) will take you through highly industrialised areas, forest or farmland in no time at all. You’ll be amazed…! Equally amazing is the transformation of this coal mining infrastructure into cultural places that evoke Van Gogh or Verhaeren. These trips are brimming with things to discover!
Here we suggest three stages which do not follow one after another but which can be combined:
- Line 98, the ridge of the Borinage, between Cuesmes and Quiévrain.
- Line 98A, the Hauts-Pays RAVeL, between Dour and Onnezies.
- Line 98C, between Frameries and Hornu.
The more daring among you can also tackle the short section of Line 98B between Warquignies and Boussu.
Interactive Route Map
Route Stages : Lignes 98 du Borinage 3
De Cuesmes (Mons) à Quiévrain (stage 1)
On the Line 98 RAVeL
The Line 98 RAVeL crosses the Borinage from east to west, enabling non-motorised users coming from Mons to go as far as the French border along its own path.
Widely used for daily trips in urban areas, it is certainly one of the most interesting from the point of view of railway heritage. The user's journey is dotted with witnesses to the past, bollards, waymarks, railway bridges and road bridges. Reminders of the railway and industry, but also green slag heaps and pastoral valleys that delight the eye of the naturalist and more.
Family
21 km
De Dour à Onnezies (Honnelles) (stage 2)
On the Line 98A RAVeL
While you wait to start off towards Roisin, we suggest that you go as far as Caillou-qui-Brique, just past the old Angre railway station, known as the Hauts-Pays.
Far from the images of slag heaps, collieries and the industrial region, this part of the Borinage seems to stand out. Outings to the Hauts-Pays are always charming. How do you see the Borinage other than through the slag heaps? How do you sense the wealth of a landscape and a welcoming region? This trip will show you.
Family
9 km
De Frameries à Hornu (Quaregnon) (stage 3)
On the Line 98C RAVeL
The Line 98C RAVeL is brimming with life: people walking, young parents letting their children make their first somewhat clumsy attempts on wheels, pétanque players using the sites they have traced out, a few onlookers, enjoying a drink…
This old railway line, which once linked the various collieries, has found a new lease of life, becoming an area for walking and cycling at the heart of the Borinage. And thanks to the cultural non-profit association Blanc Murmure, it has now become a real artistic route between two leading museum centres, the PASS science and technology park and the Grand-Hornu industrial site.
Family
8 km
