NMBS/SNCB launches flexible parking subscription

The Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB is introducing a flexible parking subscription, an initiative that aims to respond mainly to commuters who regularly work from home and thus do not take the train to work every day.

With this, NMBS/SNCB wants to capitalize on the success of telecommuting, which is now well established in the public sector, with almost 50% of wage earners – in the private sector, it is 28%.

6, 10, or 40 accesses

Train commuters who regularly work from home have been able to buy a flexible train pass for some time now. And with success: last year, more than a quarter of all commuting season tickets at NMBS/SNCB were flexible subscriptions that allow you to travel two to three days a week on the same route.

For commuters who also drive to the station by car first, there is now also a “Subscription Flex Parking.” With that formula, they can buy 6 or 10 parking passes valid for a month or 40 parking passes valid for a year.

Rates vary by station

The rates vary by station. They range from €12,10 (6 accesses), €17,50 (10 accesses), and €67,20 (40 accesses) in stations such as Mons, Ede, Jette, Louvain-la-Neuve and Roeselare to €28,60, €41,40 and €159,20 in Hasselt and €42,70, €61,90 and €238,10 in Liège-Guillemins station.

Unlike with a full subscription, with a flexible one, the motorist is not guaranteed a parking space. “If the parking lot is full, you will not have access to it,” the terms and conditions state.

Some 60 of Belgium’s 550 stations and stops have NMBS/SNCB parking. The other parking subscriptions also remain.