The Brussels Metro is a rapid transit

Rapid transit

A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

 system serving a large part of the Brussels-Capital Region

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 of Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. 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

Brussels trams

The Brussels tram system is one of the ten largest in the world, carrying some 75.6 million passengers in 2009. Its development demonstrates many of the quandaries that face local public transport planners...

 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.