October 10, 2024
Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB must pay the state a fine of 416,666 euros. In 2023, NMBS/SNCB was insufficiently punctual, canceled too many trains, and experienced too many minutes of delays. The fine results from an alarming report that is part of the public service contract between the state and the NMBS/SNCB. If NMBS/SNCB does […]
October 10, 2024
Rio Tinto Group, the world’s second-largest mining group, is to buy U.S. lithium producer Arcadium Lithium Plc. The British-Australian group is putting 6,7 billion dollars, or 6,1 billion euros, on the table for the acquisition. This is Rio Tinto’s largest deal in 17 years. With the acquisition, the group is betting heavily on lithium, a […]
October 09, 2024
Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary plans to abolish the paper boarding pass and allow online check-in only. The measure, which would apply from May next year, would save costs. Ryanair desks would disappear at airports, and every passenger would have to check in via smartphone. An additional surcharge already applies now, but eventually, O’Leary wants to […]
October 09, 2024
According to driving schools, there is a renewed interest among young people in being able to drive independently as soon as possible after their 18th birthday, and a new French study confirms this fact. Despite its high cost, young people worldwide remain attached to the car precisely because they consider it essential for their daily […]
October 08, 2024
The business newspaper L’Echo writes that there is a good chance that the measure requiring all new cabs in Brussels to be emission-free by January 1st, 2025, will be postponed for a year. The main reason would be that there are not enough charging stations in the Brussels Region, while the high price of new […]
October 08, 2024
Dutch transport company Arriva has ordered 157 new electric buses from VDL. Some buses will be built in the VDL factory in Roeselare, West Flanders. The 157 new-generation Citea buses are destined for the West Brabant region of the Netherlands. Financial details about the order are unknown, but the extra production will not involve new […]
October 07, 2024
NMBS/SNCB’s board of directors has reaffirmed its decision on the train offer for 2025. Earlier, outgoing Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) had overturned the Belgian public railroad company’s decision. According to Gilkinet, the Federal Public Service Mobility will now rule on the new train offer. Train passengers, for their part, are calling for quick work […]
October 07, 2024
The Brussels parliament has postponed for two years the tightening of the Low-Emission Zone (LEZ) on January 1st, 2025. The Liberals, PS, Les Engagés, Team Fouad Ahidar, and Vlaams Belang voted in favor; the Greens and DéFi against, while Vooruit, N-VA, and CD&V abstained. Urban movement BRAL calculated that postponing the ban on the most […]
October 04, 2024
The plans were known before, but now French rail manufacturer Alstom has effectively received an order for 12 new-generation TGVs, as well as 15 years of maintenance, from the new French private train company Proxima. The order involves a sum of nearly 850 million euros. Proxima, one of France’s first independent high-speed train companies, plans […]
October 03, 2024
From the beginning of next year, anyone wishing to travel from Amsterdam to London by Eurostar will be able to do so again without changing trains in Brussels. The renovation of the terminal in Amsterdam Central will be largely completed by then, says the Dutch railroad company NS. Due to works on the Amsterdam station, […]
October 03, 2024
On Tuesday, the unions at Audi’s factory in Brussels, threatened by closure, were told at a works council meeting that only one candidate investor for the plant has come forward but didn’t put a viable plan on the table. At the same time, management made a first proposal for a social plan, which the unions […]
October 02, 2024
Citroën risks losing millions from the social leasing plan launched in France last year to encourage the switch to electric cars. The brand, owned by Stellantis, had until September 30th to deliver the vehicles ordered under that leasing plan. But Citroën is facing delivery delays. According to French media, if the French state prevails, the […]
October 02, 2024
In the city center of Namur, you can now take an e-shuttle for free. The shuttles replace the TEC buses, which have been unable to travel in the pedestrian zone since the beginning of May. The four shuttles are primarily intended for people who have difficulty getting around but are also available to everyone free […]
October 01, 2024
European aircraft maker Airbus will build a new campus for training and flight operations in its home port of Toulouse. The Toulouse site, the only center in Europe to provide training on all the European aircraft manufacturer’s programs, will accommodate 600 people starting in 2026. Airbus forecasts that more than 40,000 new aircraft could enter […]
October 01, 2024
The Walloon Road Safety Agency (AWSR) reports that about 72% of Walloon motorists do not know how to correctly apply the ‘safety corridor’ rule or the emergency lane, even though it has been in the Belgian highway code for four years. The organization is launching an information campaign to remind road users of this principle. […]
September 30, 2024
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has won her battle: the planned 50 km/h speed limit will be introduced on part of the Paris ring road tomorrow and will apply everywhere there from October 10. New French Transport Minister François Durovray “regrets the decision, which will affect millions of Île-de-France residents.” But Durovray, who threatened to scrap […]
September 30, 2024
Brussels Airport and air traffic controller Skeyes are starting demonstration flights with landings at a steeper angle on Tuesday. This test aims to analyze whether there is a positive impact on noise pollution, CO2 emissions, and fuel consumption. The tests are part of the HERON (Highly Efficient Green Operations) project, a broad international consortium of […]
September 30, 2024
The new Flemish government has decided that the Flemish public transport company De Lijn will receive additional funds to green its fleet and will also be allowed to decide in the future to raise fares. However, it is not clear exactly how much extra money is going to De Lijn. In addition to substantial investments […]
September 27, 2024
European aircraft maker Airbus is reorganizing its production to better respond to supply chain disruptions and its main competitors, the American Boeing and the ambitious Chinese Comac. It is doing so under the banner ‘LEAD!’. The new strategy includes structurally improving performance by simplifying the organization, cost savings, and not hiring new staff, but there […]
September 26, 2024
High-speed train operator Eurostar and the airline alliance SkyTeam will work together to offer integrated tickets. They have signed a memorandum of understanding to this end. The intention is to offer joint trips combining long- and medium-haul flights on the one hand and Eurostar train rides on the other, starting in the first half of […]
September 26, 2024
The tightening of the low-emission zone (LEZ) in Brussels will most likely be postponed from 2025 to 2027. The proposal of an ordinance to this effect by MR, PS, Les Engagés, and Open Vld was approved on Wednesday in the Environment Committee of the Brussels Parliament. The Brussels Parliament’s plenary session on October 4th must […]
September 25, 2024
Cambio CarSharing Flanders is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The car-sharing service started in 2004 in Ghent and is active in more than 100 Flemish cities and municipalities today. More cities and municipalities will be added in the coming years, starting with the Ghent boroughs. The car-sharing service also wants to improve its software and further […]
September 25, 2024
Starting December 16th, a high-speed train will run daily between Paris and Berlin. French railroad company SNCF Voyageurs and German operator Deutsche Bahn will operate the line. The journey will take about eight hours in total. A stopover in Brussels or Belgium is not planned because the train will enter France or Germany via Strasbourg. […]
September 24, 2024
In the coming weeks and months, railroad company NMBS/SNCB will roll out silence zones on Belgium’s main IC trains. By next summer, 65% of all passengers traveling between major cities should generally be able to use them. The quiet zones have been tested on trains between Eupen and Ostend and Brussels and Luxembourg. According to […]
September 24, 2024
The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, wants to introduce a speed limit of 50 km/hour on the Paris Ring Road from October 1st. Whether it will come to that remains to be seen because brand-new Transport Minister François Durovray says he is unconvinced about the project. “I think this is not a decision that the […]
September 23, 2024
The new streetcar line 10 was officially opened in Neder-Over-Heembeek on Saturday, with Belgium’s King Philippe—a licensed jet and helicopter pilot—in the driver’s seat for this occasion. The latest Brussels tramline runs from the Military Hospital to the center of Brussels and on to Churchill in Uccle, passing key interchanges such as North Station, Rogier, […]
September 23, 2024
Resigning Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) has scrapped NMBS/SNCB’s decision not to expand its train offer by the end of this year, the newspaper De Standaard reports. The socialist union considers the Minister’s plan unrealistic, given the staff shortage and delayed equipment deliveries. In early September, news broke that NMBS/SNCB had to scale back its […]
September 20, 2024
An international conference aimed at boosting the revival of nuclear energy is started in Paris under the auspices of the OECD and the Swedish government. About 15 ministers from pro-nuclear countries are participating in the second edition of ‘Roadmaps to New Nuclear 2024’, which examines concrete ways to meet global commitments to increase nuclear power […]
September 20, 2024
Eurostar, the operator of high-speed trains connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Great Britain, threatens to stop running trains in the Netherlands by 2025. “Without access to necessary infrastructure, connections to London and Paris will be suspended,” said Eurostar chief Gwendoline Cazenave. In an opinion piece in the Dutch business newspaper ‘Het Financieele Dagblad’, […]
September 19, 2024
Some 36 action groups and citizens’ initiatives, united as the Modal Shift Coalition (MSC), want politicians to work harder on the modal shift for Flemish cities with higher quality of life. In other words, there should be more space for pedestrians and cyclists, fewer cars, and more public transport and shared mobility. The call comes […]
September 18, 2024
On Wednesday, the Environment Committee of the Brussels parliament is considering several proposals to postpone the planned tightening of the Low-Emission Zone (LEZ). The proposal that stands the best chance is that of MR, Les Engagés, PS, and Open Vld to postpone stricter LEZ standards by two years. According to the Brussels administration, a postponement […]
September 18, 2024
On Sunday, Mobility Week concludes in Brussels with Car-Free Sunday. From 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., the entire Brussels Region will be closed to unlicensed cars, making the Region once again the largest car-free zone in Europe for one day. The Brussels Region covers 162 square kilometers and comprises 19 municipalities, including the City of […]
September 17, 2024
Belgian, West Flanders logistics company Eutraco is buying 50 eActros 600 trucks from Mercedes-Benz, representing an investment of 14 million euros. With that move, the company is electrifying a third of its fleet, making it the first logistics player in Belgium to have such a large fleet of e-trucks, according to the company. “Sustainable transport […]
September 16, 2024
Brussels Airlines’ fleet will be expanded with three new A330 long-haul aircraft, the first of which is expected in mid-2025. With four leased short-haul aircraft, Brussels Airlines will offer 14% more seats next summer while reserving 100 million euros for brand-new cabins. With 13 jets, the long-haul fleet has never been so large and is […]
September 16, 2024
Danish logistics company DSV has announced acquiring freight carrier DB Schenker from German rail company Deutsche Bahn for 14.3 billion euros. The companies expect to complete the transaction next year. Once the deal is finalized, after the German government gives it the go-ahead, DSV will become the world’s largest freight forwarder. One of the industry’s […]
September 13, 2024
Belgian rail network manager Infrabel has launched a new VR movie to ask young people to be careful around railroads. After all, a recent survey showed that 48% of Belgians are willing to walk on the tracks even though safety rules are generally known. In 2023, this led to eleven deaths and nine serious injuries […]
September 13, 2024
According to a new study by research firm Transport&Mobility Leuven (TML), the Belgian bicycle economy is worth nearly a billion euros and has experienced growth of some 90% over the past eight years. Along with the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany, Belgium is one of the largest cycling countries in the world. Many car manufacturers see […]
September 12, 2024
From the end of October, Latin American airline LATAM Cargo is tripling the number of flights at Brussels Airport from four to twelve per week. Cargo activity is also on the rise at Liège Airport, which has gained two new cargo connections, respectively to Hangzhou in China and Oakland in the United States. The tripling […]
September 12, 2024
House searches are taking place at several companies that carry out bus trips for the Flemish public transport companies De Lijn and its Walloon counterpart, TEC. This is reported by the Belgian Competition Authority (BMA). There would be suspicions of price fixing and falsification of public tenders. Which coach companies are involved is not yet […]
September 11, 2024
Denmark’s subsea CO2 storage facility is ready to receive high volumes of CO2. So reports British chemical company Ineos after receiving a positive final report for the pilot project. Ineos said Denmark now has “a safe and functioning underground storage facility in the North Sea, where CO2 can be permanently stored to combat climate change.” […]
September 10, 2024
The Brussels holding company D’Ieteren, known among other things as an importer of Volkswagen and car glass repairer Carglass, will eventually, after seven generations, be owned by only one branch of the family: Nicolas D’Ieteren and his investment vehicle, Nayarit. The latter is buying out his nephew Olivier Périer and his holding company, SPDG Group. […]
September 10, 2024
From October 1st, only 50 km/hour may be driven on the Paris Ring Road. The news was already announced last year, but Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has officially confirmed the speed limit. Remarkably, for the measure intended to reduce pollution for more than half a million inhabitants, Hidalgo is not awaiting the advice of the […]
September 09, 2024
The oil price has dropped significantly again. A barrel of US WTI oil now costs 67.67 dollars, after the peak in April of around 87 dollars per barrel. A barrel of Brent North Sea oil now costs about 71 dollars a barrel, down from more than 90 dollars in April. The price drop, the lowest […]
September 09, 2024
NMBS/SNCB’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the train offer for 2025 on Friday. This offer is less ambitious than anticipated, partly due to a staff shortage. Overall, the train offer increases by almost 2% (in a million train kilometers) compared to 2024. In addition, 220 trains that had been scaled down in 2022 due to […]
September 06, 2024
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 […]
September 05, 2024
It must be no coincidence: just when three French-speaking parties involved in the formation of the Brussels government decided on their own to present a proposal in parliament to postpone the tightening of the emission standard for the low-emission zone (LEZ) in Brussels from the beginning of 2025 to 2027, the non-profit organization Chercheurs d’Air […]
September 04, 2024
In Flamanville, France, electricity producer EDF has been able to start up a new nuclear power plant, Flamanville 3, after a 12-year delay. However, it will take another three months before the first electricity is pumped into the French grid. Flamanville 3 is France’s 57th nuclear reactor and, with 1,600 megawatts, will be the most […]
September 04, 2024
The new Swedish government, a right-wing minority government with tacit support from the radical-right Sweden Democrats, will abolish the ‘flyswatter’, or flight tax, introduced by the previous red-green government on July 1st next year. “Sweden depends on competition in the airline industry,” says Sweden Democrats group chairman Linda Lindberg. “Companies and individuals need air travel, […]
September 03, 2024
Lufthansa’s big boss, Carsten Spohr, met yesterday with members of the Portuguese government about a possible stake by the German airline group in TAP. According to Italian business newspaper Corriere della Sera, Lufthansa is interested in taking a 19.9% stake in the publicly owned Portuguese airline. Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and British Airways parent company IAG […]
September 02, 2024
MR, Les Engagés, and the PS, the parties negotiating a new Brussels government on the French-speaking side, want to present a proposal in the Brussels Parliament that would postpone the introduction of the stricter low-emission zone (LEZ) emissions standards from early 2025 to early 2027. The parties report this in a joint press release. Groen, […]
August 30, 2024
As great was the joy a few weeks ago at the inauguration of the new streetcar in Liège, so great is the disappointment today among the advocates of a sustainable mobility policy for the Liège metropolis. After all, the new Walloon government has abandoned the project to extend the Liège tramway to Herstal and Seraing. […]
August 30, 2024
Several environmental organizations are suing the European Commission for not imposing sufficiently strict CO2 standards on member states under the 2015 Paris Agreement on global warming. First and foremost, they are calling for fossil-fuel-powered planes and ships to be removed from the EU’s list of sustainable investments, which they say is an example of greenwashing. […]
August 29, 2024
The ministerial instruction of outgoing Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) preventing the use of Boeing 777 aircraft at Brussels Airport at night has been suspended. The Minister said this in the Parliamentary Committee on Mobility. If consultations with the Flemish government come to nothing, it will be up to the next federal government to resolve […]
August 29, 2024
The Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB has welcomed the first of 70 articulated, all-electric buses. De eCitaro buses will replace the last Euro 5 buses still in circulation, which, due to the tightening of the low emission zone (LEZ), may no longer be used from 2025. The Marly depot in Neder-Over-Heembeek is also being expanded […]
August 28, 2024
Brussels Airlines will soon introduce a new Belgian Icon, following the tribute to Tintin, the Smurfs, Tomorrowland, and the Red Devils, to name but a few. This time, the public may devise a design for a new painted airplane again. Beer, French fries, chocolate, and waffles are out of the question, but otherwise, almost anything […]
August 27, 2024
The Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB will call for tenders this fall for the rollout of a large network of charging stations in its station car parks, reports the business newspaper De Tijd/L’Echo. The NMBS/SNCB charging station network is not extensive at the moment. The railroad company has 522 stations with parking facilities totaling 75,000 […]
August 26, 2024
Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB aims to increase the number of passengers by 30% by 2032 compared to 2022. Back then, 227 million passengers were transported, so the number of passengers should reach 300 million by 2032. According to the newspaper Le Soir, NMBS/SNCB has launched an investigation into the suburban S-nets of Brussels, Antwerp, […]
August 23, 2024
Brian Niccol, Starbucks’ new top executive, will be provided a jet by the American coffeehouse chain group to fly from his home in California to its headquarters in Seattle. That’s about 1,600 km. Niccol takes office on Monday, September 9th, but so is already under fire, while others accuse the firm of hypocrisy, with some […]
August 22, 2024
Brussels has 13,175 people on the waiting list to park their bikes in a secure bike park or box, 701 more than in February of this year, reports the Brussels news site BRUZZ. Parking.brussels has installed new bike boxes here and there over the past months, but the demand for bike parking continues to grow. […]
August 21, 2024
“A historic day” is what Willy Demeyer, the socialist mayor of Liège, called yesterday the first return after nearly 60 years of the streetcar to the center of the Cité ardente for a first test. “This streetcar will revolutionize mobility, the environment, and the economy,” De Meyer said. On August 31st, 1964, the streetcar made […]
