NMBS/SNCB scales back its extra train promise

What so many commuters, young people, and weekend tourists were looking forward to is threatening to be a hefty blow to rail travelers and a PR thud for Belgian rail company NMBS/SNCB.

After all, the public rail company wants to postpone the planned expansion of its offerings, which are scheduled for the end of this year, due to a shortage of drivers. The newspaper De Standaard and the public broadcaster VRT reported this first.

Resigned Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) is not satisfied with the decision and is asking NMBS/SNCB to revisit it. He warns that the rail company must now seize the opportunity the recent management contract offers. If not, the next government might scale back the contracts, Gilkinet said.

No late-night trains

The NMBS/SNCB wants to transport 30% more passengers by 2032; by the end of this year, several extra trains will already be added. By the end of 2026, an additional 2,000 trains per week will be running, representing 7.4% more kilometers.

The emphasis was on extra supply around the big cities and better—read: later—connections at the weekend, which many young people particularly looked forward to.

But it won’t come to that. According to documents obtained by the newspaper De Standaard and VRT, the transport company wants to scale back its ambitions. 13 of the 15 projects to be launched at the end of this year will be postponed.

These include the late-night trains on Friday and Saturday evenings around Brussels and Antwerp, the extra weekend trains from Brussels to Charleroi, Leuven-Liège, Dendermonde or Aalst, and the extra trains on Sundays between Hasselt-Mol, and the Eeklo-Ghent-Oudenaarde-Ronse region.

Still, according to De Standaard, the Belgian rail network is also regularly congested, for example, around Ghent-Sint-Pieters station and on the Mechelen-Vilvoorde line. This could worsen, as rail operator Infrabel wants to allow more time between trains, while NMBS/SNCB fears additional obstacles to its growth plans.

Persistent problem

NMBS/SNCB says the main reason for scaling back its plans is that it cannot find staff and has a shortage of drivers. “Despite great efforts to recruit in a difficult labor market—especially in Flanders and Brussels—there is a shortage of train drivers in December 2024 to implement the planned Transport Plan,” the railway company says. It is now proposed that the extensions be postponed until the end of next year.

The NMBS/SNCB has been struggling with persistent problems, such as lacking staff. However, delays in the delivery of new trains are also causing delays and canceled trains. Yet it remains an eyesore for many that the figures given by NMBS/SNCB on staff shortages are vague. Some depots would have problems, for example, but certainly not everywhere.

Last year, NMBS/SNCB filled 1,600 vacancies. This year, there are 1,300, including 400 train drivers and 300 train supervisors. Again, NMBS/SNCB would not disclose how many vacancies remain open.

Not an insufficient salary, though

The working conditions for train drivers at NMBS/SNCB are not bad. The newspaper De Morgen writes that those who start training earn at least 3,050 euros gross per month. Meal vouchers, 37 vacation days per year, hospitalization insurance, a free train pass in the Benelux, and family benefits are also included.

However, good wages and pensions—you can retire at 55, provided you have worked for 30 years—are offset by weekend work, early and late hours, and an accumulation of compensatory days. These contribute to high turnover, plus the fact that NMBS/SNCB, after years of forced cutbacks, is not the hippest employer, partly also because of a high-efficiency drive.

Gilkinet not happy

Minister Gilkinet is unhappy with the decision and has asked the management and board of directors to reverse it. For the first time in years, during the last legislature, Gilkinet concluded a management agreement with NMBS/SNCB that includes significant financing: more than 43 billion euros over ten years. The Minister expects the company to honor its commitments, which is even more critical given the country’s mobility challenges.

“Never before has the railroad company been given so many resources and clear prospects, with such a central role within our transport,” Gilkinet said. “Now it is up to NMBS/SNCB to do its part, to seize the opportunity and organize itself to achieve the objectives, for the first time in ten years.”

The Minister warns, “The risk, of course, is that if we don’t, our ambitions will be scaled back, and the contracts we have signed will be called into question by the future government, whose plans to dismantle the railroads are already clear. This would be dramatic for the company, all employees, and passengers.”

Another controversial plan

The adjustment of the plans is on the NMBS/SNCB board of directors today, as is a controversial plan to put in a new, fast international train between Brussels and Amsterdam, the EuroCity. The new connection would eliminate one IC train on the already busy Antwerp-Brussels line. Several east-west connections would also be affected.

At VRT, the travelers’ association TreinTramBus is complaining about how the NMBS/SNCB is proceeding. “They are doing this quietly without informing the municipalities involved,” says Peter Meukens. “I find that a strange way of providing public service.” He also complains that the Train Passenger Advisory Committee was not consulted, which the public service contract nevertheless requires.