Flemish public transport company De Lijn had to cancel 244,000 journeys last year. Once again, these are unflattering figures for De Lijn, which also received a lot of criticism last year during the rollout of its new plan for basic accessibility.
According to MP Amina Vandenheuvel (PVDA), who requested the figures from Flemish Minister of Mobility Annick De Ridder (N-VA), staff shortages and technical problems are so great that several bus rides simply don’t run anymore.
Still a staffing problem
De Lijn had to cancel 2,86% of bus trips last year. Strikes are not included in that. In 2020, it was only 1,50%. In 2022, it was 2,7%, including streetcar rides. De Lijn carries out around 10 million bus and streetcar journeys a year.
In just over half of the cases, the bus could not operate due to a staffing issue; De Lijn is still seeking 600 new drivers. In the other cases, there was a technical defect. “Especially in Antwerp, the situation is striking,” says Vandenheuvel. “One in 15 buses there did not ride out, a 70% increase over the previous year.”
Vandenheuvel wonders how you can convince people to take public transportation, if so often your bus just doesn’t even show up? She and her party are calling for investment in staff and infrastructure, and for the increase in ticket prices to be reversed.
Average delay of 10 minutes
Of the bus trips that did go ahead, 72,4% arrived on time, 20,5% were late, and 7,1% were too early. The average delay was 10 minutes and 11 seconds. For streetcars, punctuality was slightly better, with 80,4% of trips on time. The average delay was 8 minutes and 58 seconds.
