De Lijn: record 23 accidents per day involving buses and streetcars

De Lijn’s buses and streetcars were involved in a combined 23 accidents per day last year, a record average. Overall, in 2024, buses were involved in 7,207 accidents, and streetcars in 1,191. So, the numbers are on the rise, as are the number of victims. The figures also show that De Lijn is often not held responsible.

De Lijn’s buses and streetcars were involved in just under 8,400 accidents last year. That’s a record average of 23 daily accidents and a 20% increase compared to 2023.

The number of casualties is also on the rise. In accidents involving buses in 2024, there was one death last year in every Flemish province except Antwerp. Of the four deaths in 2024, two were in 2022 and one in 2023. Across provinces, 1,179 people were slightly or seriously injured in accidents involving De Lijn buses last year, compared with 1,030 in 2023 and 1,066 in 2022.

The nature of accidents is very diverse and includes collisions with other vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians, as well as incidents such as aggression, fires, galling passengers, and acts of despair.

Caution in introducing flexi-jobs at De Lijn

Flemish member of parliament An Christiaens (CD&V), who requested the figures from Mobility Minister Annick De Ridder (N-VA), says that “there are still gains to be made both in the training of drivers and in the training of other road users.” The CD&V MP also seizes on the figures to call for some caution in introducing flexi-jobs at De Lijn. “Today, for example, we see that 1 in 8 applicants fail the selection tests,” Christiaens said.

The coach companies, and thus also De Lijn’s subcontractors, have been able to work flexibly for some time. De Lijn itself, however, remained legally excluded. In the new federal coalition agreement, the possibility of flexibility is extended to all sectors. However, Flanders still must wait for the Chamber to vote on the necessary legal texts. De Lijn is currently facing a shortage of 128 drivers.

According to the newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, trade unions have also been critical. For example, they fear unsafe situations because some flexi-drivers spend far too many hours a day behind the wheel of a bus; for public transport drivers, driving and rest periods are not registered.

The figures also show that in most cases, De Lijn is not held responsible: in 2024, it was responsible for 2.5% of bus accidents and 2% of streetcar accidents, 180 and 23, respectively.