TEC back at pre-COVID passenger level: 151,6 million

The Walloon public transport company TEC transported more than 150 million passengers last year. As far as passenger numbers are concerned, they are back to the level before the COVID-19 health crisis. At the same time, TEC’s turnover increased by 22% compared to 2022, to 122 million euros. In doing so, it surpassed 2019 for the first time since the pandemic.

This ‘comeback’ of TEC, which also concluded a new management agreement for 2024-2028 last year, is partly due to an expansion of its offering. Last year, TEC launched three new Express lines, two new Aerobes lines between Charleroi Airport and three regional stations, and the first tourist line, Bouillon-Orval.

Major infrastructure works were also carried out at Charleroi Central, Namur, Wavre, and Eupen stations, the new tramline in Liège, and the Charleroi metro.

At the same time, TEC also introduced several new things to make traveling more enjoyable for travelers, such as date-by-date subscriptions, installation of dynamic information screens, terminal and bike boxes, etc.

Customer satisfaction declined

A setback, however, is that just customer satisfaction declined slightly, from 64% in 2024 to 69% in 2023, according to a recent survey. That drop can be attributed to lower satisfaction with access to information, journey duration, vehicle comfort, and respect between passengers.

Despite 122 million euros in revenue, TEC suffered an accounting loss of 9.2 million euros due to the structural delay in indexation (increased salaries, fuel, and other necessities). Although comfort can be found in the fact that the number of subscribers increased to 450,000 or +10,6%

Greening of the fleet

The fleet’s electrification is also continuing. Currently, 41% of it consists of hybrid vehicles, but TEC has also ordered its first 100% e-buses.

“Now more than ever, public transport is playing a key role in addressing the climate emergency,” TEC Administrator General Jean-Michel Soors said yesterday at the presentation of the annual figures.

“This relates to our facilities and vehicles, but also to our ability to take all necessary actions to convince more citizens to choose the TEC and thus support the Walloon Region’s FAST vision.” The Walloon Region has set itself the goal of significantly increasing the modal share of buses and trams from 4% to 10% by 2030.