March 17, 2023
Lithium de France, a subsidiary of the French group Arverne, has raised 44 million in funds for the explorations to build its first well. The company, based in Bischwiller (Bas-Rhin), near Strasbourg, will develop two synergistic projects around geothermal heat and green lithium in northern Alsace. The two main investors in the fund Equinox Ventures, […]
March 16, 2023
Eighteen-years-old who would like to spend a summer traveling through more than 30 European countries with a free rail pass can bid for one of the 35 000 tickets on offer from the European Commission until 29 March. Indeed, since 2018, the European Commission has been launching its spring call for free train travel across […]
March 15, 2023
About one in 40 train passengers chooses a seat in first class on a Belgian railway company train. This resulted in an added value of 35,1 million euros for NMBS/SNCB last year, says Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo). According to the minister, about 2,5% of all travelers take a seat in a first-class carriage (2% […]
March 15, 2023
Last year, the Flemish public transport company De Lijn received 135 reports of sexually transgressive behavior on vehicles or at stops. That is 45 more than the 90 reports in 2021, an increase thus of 50%. This is according to figures requested by Flemish MP Katrien Schryvers (CD&V). Most of the 135 reports (78) were […]
March 14, 2023
Vilvoorde Viaduct is to undergo a major renovation that will take some eight years to carry out. Flemish Minister of Mobility and Public Works Lydia Peeters (Open VLD) has announced this. The viaduct, one of the busiest traffic points in Western Europe with an average of about 150 000 vehicles passing over it every day, […]
March 13, 2023
On the Van Praet roundabout, part of a major approach road in the north of Brussels, there will be a sculpture of an old locomotive in the shape of a whale. The ‘Moby Train’ sculpture is a reference to the nearby Train World Museum and should be there by 2026 when public railway company NMBS/SNCB […]
March 10, 2023
A small group of defective or fraudulent vehicles is responsible for many harmful emissions in the Belgian port area. This is according to a study by the Port of Antwerp-Bruges that used ‘remote sensing’ to measure emissions from passing vehicles in and around the port. Based on such measurements, the researchers estimated that a truck […]
March 09, 2023
The punctuality of trains of Belgium’s public rail company NMBS/SNCB was again lower in February than a year earlier. If canceled trains are included, punctuality was 82,4%. That means more than one in six trains were running with at least six minutes delay or were abolished. Punctuality figures published on the open data website of […]
March 09, 2023
Brussels Mobility plans to start the redevelopment of Avenue Lambermont and General Wahis in the second half of 2024. Together with Auguste Reyers Avenue, which is being redesigned as a city boulevard, the two avenues form the Schaerbeek section of the Brussels Central Ring (R21). The public service has now applied for planning permission for […]
March 08, 2023
In January and February, 1 004 more new speed pedelecs have already been registered than in the same period of 2022. Sales are also on the rise in the second-hand market. So reports mobility federation TRAXIO. According to TRAXIO, speed pedelecs are selling well thanks to companies and leasing companies. Private individuals are also expected […]
March 08, 2023
The focus of the Oosterweel works this year will be on the Right Bank of the river Scheldt. The first utility works in Antwerp are underway, but this autumn, both the construction of the bypass, temporarily replacing the Merksem viaduct, and the construction of the channel tunnels under the Albert Canal will start. In recent […]
March 07, 2023
Urban.brussels has granted an urban development certificate to Brussels Mobility to create a city boulevard on Auguste Reyers Avenue, an arterial road in Schaerbeek where the public broadcasters VRT and RTBF are located. So reports Brussels State Secretary for Urban Planning Pascal Smet (one.brussels-Vooruit). Reyers Avenue will be reconstructed from facade to facade between Meiser […]
March 07, 2023
In its Memorandum 2024, a series of recommendations ahead of next year’s elections, Network Sustainable Mobility (Netwerk Duurzame Mobiliteit, NDM) advocates the abolition of the company car and the introduction of an annual ‘proximity budget’ of 400 euros for every Belgian. “As long as the company car is in front of the door, you are […]
March 06, 2023
Brussels Airlines carried over 6,8 million passengers last year, almost double the 2021 figure. That also led to a doubling of revenue, to 1,2 billion euros. On that basis, Brussels Airlines was able to limit the operating loss to 75 million euros, a halving compared to last year. This year, the airline aims to leave […]
March 06, 2023
As expected, the council of ministers has extended the mandate of railway boss Sophie Dutordoir. Sophie Dutordoir, who has been CEO of NMBS/SNCB since 2017, gets six more years. In a comment, she promises to dedicate herself “with the same enthusiasm and commitment” in the coming years to realize the public service contract between the […]
March 03, 2023
Anyone taking an NMBS/SNCB train from now on will have to show their ticket more often before boarding. More officers from Securail, the public railway’s security service, will be deployed for this purpose. NMBS/SNCB thus wants to avoid discussions between travelers and train attendants on board the train, as they are the main cause of […]
March 03, 2023
There will be an end to the nuisance and the uncontrolled proliferation of shared e-scooters lying around in the Brussels Region. Some 3 000 parking spaces or drop zones are going to be created. The distribution between the municipalities has been decided in the meantime. Brussels City would get 681 drop zones. The number of shared […]
March 02, 2023
They were already popping up sporadically behind the peloton, but now the Dutch BEAT Cycling dares to be the first cycling team to switch to all-electric cars to follow the racing cyclists. “This is not a little experiment,” says team manager Geert Broekhuizen in the Dutch newspaper Trouw. “We don’t have a backup plan. Better […]
March 02, 2023
Namur’s new multi-modal station was officially inaugurated on Wednesday. For the first time, commuters were able to access the Namur NMBS/SNCB station via the famous cable-stayed bridge allowing TEC buses to drive up the roof to the new stop. There, passengers can then take the lift to the platforms several floors below. The renovation comes […]
March 01, 2023
Car sharing has been on the rise in Belgium for a while, but new figures indicate a real boom. In 2022, for instance, the number of active car-sharing users in Belgium rose by 40% to 121 394, a record number. So reports non-profit organization Autodelen.net in its latest report. More than half of car-sharers are […]
March 01, 2023
Sophie Dutordoir will be the CEO of the Belgian public railway company NMBS/SNCB for another six years. That is what the newspapers De Tijd and Le Soir write. Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) will present the mandate extension to the government this Friday. In March 2017, Dutordoir was appointed managing director of the National Railway […]
February 28, 2023
Stellantis, the parent company of 14 automotive brands with Peugeot, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Opel -Vauxhall, Chrysler, Jeep, and Fiat as its most prominent names, wants to cut 2 000 jobs in Italy this year, some 4,3% of total Italian workforce of 47 000. The reorganization is linked to the transition to electric car production. It […]
February 27, 2023
Brussels Mobility had to pay more than 270 000 euros in compensation to motorists in 2022 who considered that they had suffered vehicle damage due to poor road conditions. However, this is 50% less than in 2021, writes the newspaper La Capital. All road users can claim compensation from either the municipality or the Brussels […]
February 24, 2023
The staff shortage at Dutch railways NS, due to labor market shortages and absenteeism due to illness, is just not getting resolved. Of over 7 000 vacancies, NS now managed to fill almost 5 200, but the need for conductors and drivers remains high. Chief executive Wouter Koolmees, who has been in charge of the […]
February 23, 2023
Before the district court of Antwerp, 33 clients of a driving school with branches in Deurne and Merksem are being prosecuted. The driving school had assisted them in their theoretical exam for their driver’s license with earphones and hidden cameras to whisper the answers into their ears. “By committing fraud during the theoretical driving test, […]
February 22, 2023
The American transport company Lime, known for its free-floating e-scooters and bikes, has posted strong growth of 33% in 2022. The San Francisco-based company recorded a turnover of 466 million dollars (+33% year-on-year), with a gross operating surplus of 4 million dollars at the end, a first for the company. “2022 was our best and […]
February 21, 2023
The top boss of Spanish railways Renfe, Isaías Táboas, has resigned. Following an order for trains that turned out to be too big to track through specific tunnels, he presented his resignation yesterday. The order has been controversial in Spain for a fortnight after the mistake was made public. At issue was a 248 million […]
February 21, 2023
Introducing a smart kilometer charge in the Brussels Region does not yet seem imminent for tomorrow. Because the PS continues to obstruct, and political discussions are going on, next to questions about technical operability. On the other hand, it’s getting clear the smart road pricing system on which €33,8 million already spent, will not be […]
February 20, 2023
Parisians will have to go to the polling stations in their arrondissements to vote for or against keeping shared e-scooters on April 2nd. Paris City Hall has announced this. Parisian e-scooter operators have denounced this decision and the organization by the city council of this unprecedented vote or referendum, in ballot boxes and not online. […]
February 17, 2023
A fifth less traffic in the Pentagon, more space for pedestrians, and a lot more people choosing to cycle. Those are the provisional results of six months of ‘Good Move’, the new circulation plan to reduce transit traffic in the Brussels city center. Bart Dhondt (Groen), the Brussels Alderman for Mobility, calls the results encouraging […]
February 16, 2023
Passengers’ satisfaction with De Lijn services is going down again. In particular, the punctuality of buses and trams and the prices charged by the Flemish public transport company are causing less satisfaction. This is according to measurements by market researcher Ipsos commissioned by the Flemish Department of Mobility and Public Works (MOW). Exactly 62,3% of travelers […]
February 15, 2023
The Brussels region is stepping up the fight against noise pollution. Environment Minister Alain Maron (Ecolo) presented a pilot project testing two noise radars on Tuesday. The aim is to provide Brussels residents with a pleasant and healthy noise environment. In 2019, the Brussels Region approved the quiet.brussels plan. The plan’s objective is to reduce […]
February 14, 2023
Belgian public railway company NMBS/SNCB will invest up to 1,8 billion euros to modernize stations and make them more accessible. The news got out earlier when the government signed a new 10-year management contract with the railway company late last year. Still, Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) is also revisiting the new measure in some […]
February 13, 2023
As more people chose Bolt’s shared e-scooters, 20 million fewer kilometers were driven by car worldwide. In doing so, Bolt users saved more than 2,4 million kg of CO2 in Europe alone. This is according to a study commissioned by Bolt, an Estonian mobility platform with more than 100 million customers and operating in over […]
February 10, 2023
Belgian public railway company NMBS/SNCB has launched a new campaign against aggression toward train and station staff. The railway company received 1 900 reports of such aggression last year, 60% more than in 2019. With posters in stations and a whistling concert Thursday in the hall of Brussels-North station, NMBS/SNCB wants to ask for more […]
February 09, 2023
French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom has already had to pay 80 million euros in fines for delays in delivering M7 carriages to Belgium’s public railway company NMBS/SNCB. This was what Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) told the Parliamentary Committee on Mobility this week. In 2015, Alstom and NMBS/SCNB signed a framework agreement to deliver up […]
February 09, 2023
Train passengers wishing to buy a ticket on board a train operated by Belgian rail operator NMBS/SNCB will only be able to do so electronically from May. Railroad employees will no longer accept cash, but only carry a mobile payment terminal. According to NMBS/SNCB, the measure fits into “a broad social trend toward digitalization and […]
February 08, 2023
Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) will put a proposal of 0% VAT on tickets of Belgium national railway company NMBS/SNCB on the table at the March governmental budget audit. He said this in the chamber’s Mobility Committee. Currently, it is 9% by default. Furthermore, the minister again disputed that he intends to implement significant rate […]
February 08, 2023
Last year, some 2 000 more theory exams for the B driving license were taken in Flanders. In Wallonia, on the other hand, there was a notable drop. The pass rate did fall further in Flanders while it remained plus-minus stable in Wallonia. This is according to figures from the respective sector federations. In 2022, […]
February 07, 2023
For the first time, Denmark has granted permits to store carbon dioxide (CO2) under the North Sea seabed on a large scale. The Danish climate and energy ministry announced this on Monday. Two projects are involved: French energy group TotalEnergies (Bifrost) and a consortium of British chemical giant Ineos and German oil company and gas […]
February 06, 2023
Cycling is becoming increasingly popular for commuting in Belgium, and employers are doing more to support sustainable mobility modes. This pops up clearly from the 6th edition of the survey organized every three years by the Belgian FPS Mobility and Transport among all private and public sector employers with at least 100 employees. In general, […]
February 03, 2023
More than a hundred TotalEnergies hydrogen stations for trucks will appear along major highways in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg in the next few years. French companies TotalEnergies and Air Liquide are creating a joint venture for this purpose. According to specialists, there are currently 250 hydrogen stations in Europe. By 2030, the […]
February 02, 2023
The Belgian government’s new management contract with the public railway company NMBS/SNCB contains a bonus-malus system. If the NMBS/SNCB does not achieve the performance indicators, it can lose up to five million euros in funds. On the other hand, if it does achieve them, a bonus of the same amount is included. Minister of Mobility […]
February 01, 2023
On Tuesday, US aircraft maker Boeing delivered the very last sample of its Jumbo 747 jets, identified by the ‘hump’ at the front. With the delivery of the 1 574th example of the 747, the curtain falls on an iconic aircraft, also known as the ‘Queen of the Skies’, that played an important role in […]
February 01, 2023
Peter Gerber steps down as CEO of Brussels Airlines with immediate effect and is also leaving parent company Lufthansa Group. The airline announced that former CEO Christina Foerster will take over in ad interim. Gerber will start as CEO of German airline Condor on 1 February 2024, the latter announced. That 58-year-old Gerber is leaving […]
January 31, 2023
The number of toll kilometers driven in Belgium fell last year due to the war in Ukraine, so reports Viapass. This public body coordinates and organizes road pricing in Belgium. Still, revenues from tolls rose to 829,3 million euros in 2022, or a slight increase of 1,86%, but this is mainly due to the indexation […]
January 30, 2023
In Ghent, the great Butcher’s Hall, a historic building in the city center near the Castle of the Counts, will become a bicycle shed. The 15th-century market building is in deplorable condition and will be renovated. The city council has decided this. The Butcher’s Hall has had commercial use for a while. In the 1920s, […]
January 27, 2023
Belgian railway network operator Infrabel has inaugurated a new control room in Brussels. This forms the completion of a major operation in which 368 outdated signal boxes were replaced by ten modern counterparts. The program started 18 years ago and represents an investment of nearly 1 billion euros. It turns the operator into one of […]
January 25, 2023
By May 1st at the latest, all workers in the private sector will be entitled to a bicycle allowance. In addition, trade unions and employer organizations concluded a supplementary collective agreement in the National Labour Council (NAR). The compensations, indexed annually, amount to 0,27 euros per km for those who regularly cycle to and from […]
January 24, 2023
The French start-up Fairbrics, a pioneer in the field, wants to capture the CO2 released by manufacturers to transform it while using molecular chemistry into polyester spools for the clothing industry. To that end, it will establish a factory in Antwerp, a pioneering project that should be up and running by mid-2024. The project is […]
January 23, 2023
The project to run a self-driving electric shuttle bus at Brussels Airport has been called off. Nearly eight years after initial plans, the development of such a bus is proving too complex. The cancellation of the urban autonomous transport project in cooperation with about four Flemish cities is another setback for De Lijn in its […]
January 20, 2023
The Flemish nationalist and conservative political party N-VA wants a maximum speed of 30 km/hour for cyclists on the cycle path in built-up areas. So says Flemish MP Marius Meremans. Speed pedelecs would still be allowed to drive faster but on the roadway. However, Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) does not think it is […]
January 19, 2023
German airline group Lufthansa is the only bidder to take a stake in Italian airline ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia. This was announced by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance on Wednesday evening, after the deadline. Earlier in the day, French-Dutch airline group Air France-KLM had announced that it would not submit a […]
January 18, 2023
US car rental company Hertz will make 25 000 electric vehicles available to Uber drivers in Europe by 2025. The two companies announced this in a joint statement on Tuesday. The first vehicles will be available for hire in London from January. The initiative will then be extended to Paris, Amsterdam, and other major cities. […]
January 17, 2023
Antwerp Airport reopened its connection with London on Monday. Luxembourg-based airline Luxair is responsible for the link to London City Airport. In the first phase, they will fly to the British capital four times a week. Although flying is climate-friendly compared to before, traveling by Eurostar remains a good deal less polluting, even if the […]
January 16, 2023
Belgian railroad company NMBS/SNCB is preparing a pilot project with silence cars, where passengers who like to travel in silence can take place. This is what newspaper De Standaard writes, and NMBS/SNCB spokesperson Bart Crols confirmed the news. “The public service contract with NMBS/SNCB includes a lot of novelties for greater passenger comfort,” wrote Mobility […]
January 13, 2023
Belgian railway company NMBS/SNCB once again carried more than 200 million passengers last year. The previous two years had failed to reach that mark due to the corona crisis. “On average, the number of passengers is about 90% of the passenger volume in 2019,” the railway company says in a press release. For 2022, NMBS/SNCB […]
January 13, 2023
The Brussels-Capital Region is releasing 500 000 euros to support eleven private projects to roll out fast and ultra-fast charging stations for EVs. This was announced by Brussels Minister for Energy and Climate Transition Alain Maron (Ecolo). Brussels wants to make 22 000 charging points accessible to the public by 2035, both on and off […]
January 12, 2023
For the first time in five years, Belgians use their cars slightly less to commute to work. On the contrary, public transport is again as popular for commuting to work as before corona, and the number of company cars reaches a new record. This is according to the annual mobility barometer of HR service provider […]
January 11, 2023
The intended merger between the Norwegian oil tanker shipping company under Cypriot flag, Frontline, and the Belgian sector peer Euronav is definitely off. Frontline pulls the plug, and the company does not give an official reason for abandoning. In reaction to the news that came like a bolt from the blue, Euronav management says that […]
