In 2026, the National Railway Company of Belgium, or Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen (NMBS) in Dutch and Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Belges (SNCB) in French, turns 100 years old. To commemorate this anniversary, bpost is issuing a series of stamps.

The train themed stamps will be on sale from 26 January 2026, a brief bpost press release says.

A history of the NMBS / SNCB

The history of NMBS / SNCB begins with the creation of the Belgian State Railways in 1834, established by law to build and operate a national rail network. 

Belgium opened the first steam-powered public railway line on the European continent in 1835 between Brussels and Mechelen (Malines, Mechlin). Over the nineteenth century the network expanded quickly, with some lines built and operated by private companies and others by the state. Gradually, the state bought out many private operators, and by the early twentieth century most of the network had come under public control.

In 1926 the Belgian government created NMBS / SNCB to replace the Belgian State Railways. The new company was given a status that combined public ownership with operational autonomy, allowing it to run more efficiently while remaining under state supervision. 

Despite financial difficulties during the economic crisis of the 1930s, NMBS / SNCB invested in electrification, new rolling stock, and improved express services, returning to profitability by the end of the decade.

World War II severely disrupted operations, as the railways came under German occupation. Large parts of the network were damaged, rolling stock was destroyed or requisitioned, and long-term development was halted. 

The war years also form a darker part of the company’s past, as NMBS / SNCB was compelled by the occupying authorities to provide trains used in deportations of Jews and Roma to Nazi camps. After 1945, extensive reconstruction was needed, and many less-used rural lines were gradually closed as road transport became dominant.

Train World currently hosts an exhibition on that subject.

After the war

By 1958 the remaining private lines had been absorbed, and the entire Belgian rail network was in state hands. In the decades that followed, NMBS / SNCB continued modernising, expanding electrification and adapting services to changing travel patterns. The company’s well-known ‘B’ logo, designed or approved by Henry van de Velde, dates from the 1930s and symbolises its multilingual national identity.

Split

Major structural change arrived in the 1990s and 2000s. In 1991 NMBS / SNCB became an autonomous public enterprise, reflecting evolving European railway regulation. 

On 1 January 2005 the organisation was split into three parts: Infrabel, responsible for infrastructure; NMBS / SNCB, responsible for passenger and freight operations; and a holding company overseeing both. The reform aligned Belgium with European rules requiring network access for other operators. 

A further reform in 2014 simplified the structure again by dissolving the holding company and creating HR-Rail to manage staff for both NMBS / SNCB and Infrabel.

Today NMBS / SNCB remains Belgium’s national passenger railway operator and a central part of the country’s transport system. 

Its history spans nearly two centuries of technological change, nationalisation, war, reconstruction, and modernisation, reflecting both the development of Belgium and the broader evolution of European rail transport.