De Lijn 2890 (0354 P) at Poperinge railway station - 17 Mar 1997

Monday 17 March 1997 - De Lijn is the national bus and tram company of northern Belgium. In addition to employing numerous contractors to provide buses for its network, it also runs its own fleet. Bus 2890 (0354 P), a DAF powered Van Hool A600 integral new in January 1993, seen at Poperinge railway station when working the 1630 Ieper-Poperinge-Roesbrugge-Beveren-IJzer-Hoogstade Linde service 744. This trip runs Mondays to Fridays between Ieper and Beveren-IJzer extending to Hoogstade Linde on schooldays only.

Service 744 closely follows the route of the former Poperinge to Veurne tramway opened in the 1900s as part of the Belgian Government’s policy of providing transport in rural communities. The NMVB trams have long gone being replaced by buses – and NMVB has in turn was replaced by ‘De Lijn’ in 1991.

It is De Lijn practice to display details of the complete route for the relevant service, in this case Ieper-Poperinge-Roesbrugge-Veurne. But this 744 trip was not going to Veurne and the diagonal line through the service number tells that this is a short working. The ultimate destination is shown on a display close to the entrance door.