SNCB/NMBS (Belgian National Railway)

Company History: SNCB/NMBS (French: Société nationale des chemins de fer belges, Dutch: Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen, German: Nationale Gesellschaft der Belgischen Eisenbahnen) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB, however it is commonly referred to in English and internationally using just the French abbreviation SNCB.
NMBS/SNCB is an autonomous government company, formed in 1926 as successor to the Belgian State Railways. In 2005, the company was split up into three parts: Infrabel, which manages the railway infrastructure, network operations and network access, the public railway operator NMBS/SNCB itself to manage the freight (B-Cargo) and passenger services, and NMBS/SNCB-Holding, which owns both public companies and supervises the collaboration between them. NMBS/SNCB-Holding was merged into SNCB in 2014 in order to simplify the structure of the Belgian railways.

Brief History: Belgium, a country in Western Europe, is known for medieval towns, Renaissance architecture and as headquarters of the European Union and NATO. The country has distinctive regions including Dutch-speaking Flanders to the north, French-speaking Wallonia to the south and a German-speaking community to the east. The bilingual capital, Brussels, has ornate guildhalls at Grand-Place and elegant art-nouveau buildings.