Luc Joris, Author at newmobility.news

ArcelorMittal in Ghent threatens to shut down green prestige Steelanol project

June 19, 2025

Steel giant Arcelor Mittal is considering closing its innovative Steelanol plant in Ghent, a prestigious showpiece for the company’s decarbonization strategy. The plant, which converts CO2 from blast furnace gases into ethanol, is struggling with strict and unfavorable European regulations, threatening to make the project financially unsustainable. The Steelanol plant captures residual gases from the […]

Belgian transport union launches truckers hotline in 21 languages

June 19, 2025

The Belgian socialist transport trade union BTB-ABVV is launching a multilingual hotline for truckers. They can go there in 21 languages to ask questions about their rights or to report abuse or malpractice. “Every driver deserves a correct wage, dignified working conditions, and access to help, regardless of nationality or employer,” BTB-ABVV states. “The hotline […]

BEUC complains: ‘Greenwashing by European airlines continues’

June 18, 2025

Two years after the European consumer organization BEUC filed a complaint, airlines are still engaging in greenwashing, or using misleading environmental claims, according to Testaankoop/Test Achats and its European umbrella organization, BEUC. While the situation has “slightly improved,” greenwashing remains the norm in the airline industry, according to the consumer organizations. Still a widespread practice […]

Lifebuoy for John Cockerill’s hydrogen electrolyser division?

June 18, 2025

The much-needed capital injection of 80 to 100 million euros that John Cockerill in Seraing is looking forward to to save its hydrogen division appears to be on the way. So reports the business newspaper L’Echo. In the past, John Cockerill Hydrogen already raised 230 million euros from various investors, but that money quickly ran […]

€76 million of EU’s recovery fund money goes to Belgian railroad

June 17, 2025

The Belgian government is allocating over 76 million euros from the European Recovery Fund to rail. With just under 70 million euros, railroad network operator Infrabel will get the lion’s share of the envelope. Among other things, the money will be used for the electrification of the network, while stations will also be upgraded with […]

Flanders to become largest shareholder of Brussels Airport

June 16, 2025

Flanders will become the new largest shareholder of Brussels Airport. Through its investment company PMV, it will invest 2,77 billion euros in the airport located in Flemish Zaventem, acquiring a 39% stake in the airport operator. “We want to be in the cockpit when it comes to the future of our airport. If we don’t […]

Lufthansa reports superb figures in terms of punctuality in Germany

June 13, 2025

More than 80% of Lufthansa’s flights arrived on time at its Frankfurt and Munich hubs this year. It provides the best punctuality figures in ten years for the German national airline. Yet, Lufthansa still faces several challenges to ensure punctuality. An increasing number of drone sightings and storms hamper operations, while a lack of technical […]

290 extra e-buses for De Lijn, fifty ‘made in Belgium’

June 13, 2025

After a year of dragging its feet on greening its fleet, the Flemish public transport company now seems to be reaching full cruising speed in terms of curbing its CO2. On top of the 230 new buses currently being delivered, De Lijn is ordering another 290 electric buses. This investment of 185 million euros aligns […]

Record number of rides for Walloon public transport TEC

June 12, 2025

The Walloon public transport company TEC carried out 155.4 million rides last year, 146.4 million of which were in scheduled services. That’s an increase of 4 million or 2,78% over 2023. Interestingly, no figures are yet available on the number of travelers in 2024; for 2023, it reported 151.6 million travelers. But it does state […]

Uber cabs unleashed in Belgian coastal cities

June 12, 2025

Cab app Uber is now also offering its services in several Belgian coastal cities. “With this launch, the Uber app is available in all major coastal cities, just in time for the summer season,” the American company said in a press release. “By offering more accessible and reliable ride options, we aim to reduce parking […]

NMBS/SNCB: EU’s most bike-friendly rail company but disastrous for disabled

June 11, 2025

The European Federation of Bicycle Associations has named the Belgian railroad company NMBS/SNCB, along with the Swiss railroad company SBB, as the continent’s most bicycle-friendly rail companies. However, the Cyclists’ Union continues to find accessibility problematic, a point that is also apparent when examining the state of Flemish stations from the perspective of a person […]

Frankfurt and Geneva to become new Eurostar destinations

June 10, 2025

Eurostar plans to run direct trains from London to Frankfurt and Geneva starting in 2030. Both train journeys would take some five hours. The high-speed train operator also plans to invest heavily in its fleet. The rail company will invest some 2 billion euros to boost the number of trains by 30%. Pushed by competition […]

E-scooter safety: Antwerp emergency doctors want mandatory helmet

June 10, 2025

The Antwerp hospital umbrella ‘Hospitaal aan de Stroom’ (ZAS) receives an emergency patient every eight hours due to an accident involving an e-scooter. In half of the cases, this led to an inability to work. Emergency doctors as well as the clinic and the Flemish Foundation for Traffic Studies (VSV) are asking the government to […]

Compensation for EU air passengers only after 4 instead of 3 hours delay

June 06, 2025

European transport ministers propose that air passengers will now be entitled to compensation only for flight delays of four hours or more. European legislation currently provides for compensation of three hours or more of delay if the airline is at fault. However, the proposal still requires approval from the European Parliament and the European Council. […]

De Lijn breaks unflattering record: 244,000 rides canceled

June 06, 2025

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 […]

Average speed checks in Limburg reduce accidents by 38%

June 05, 2025

On Limburg municipal roads where average speed checks were introduced, the number of traffic accidents fell by an average of 38% compared to the number of accidents on comparable roads without section controls. This emerges from an analysis by UHasselt researchers reported by the newspaper Het Belang van Limburg, among others. According to the researchers, […]

EU urges Belgium to stop subsidizing fossil fuels

June 05, 2025

The European Commission is calling on the Belgian government to thoroughly cut subsidies for fossil fuels. It states this in its annual socio-economic recommendations to Belgium. The Commission also regrets that there are no plans to phase out the subsidies before 2030. Such a measure could both boost the greening of transportation and buildings, as […]

Wallonia to analyze bicycle traffic with sensors

June 04, 2025

As in Flanders and Brussels, Wallonia now also has a network of counting points to monitor the number of cyclists. On the website cyclable.wallonie.be, the 159 counting points for both cyclists and pedestrians can be consulted. With this initiative, the region aims to refine its cycling policy, says Walloon Mobility Minister François Desquesnes (Les Engagés). […]

Bpost to halt service to cancel Belgian license plates

June 04, 2025

From August, you can no longer go to a bpost post office or post point in Belgium to cancel a license plate. From then on, the license plate must be sent to the Vehicle Registration Service (DIV) or handed in in Brussels. Bpost “takes note” of the decision of the FPS Mobility. It also specifies […]

Brussels tries ‘Kiss & Cycle’ to tame the school run

June 03, 2025

Brussels Mobility is launching a pilot project in Forest to test a dedicated “Kiss & Cycle” zone for parents dropping their children off at school using cargo bikes, long tails, trailer bikes, or other exceptionally large bicycles. The special strip aims to reduce the chaos often seen on sidewalks and streets during school drop-off times, […]

First section of the Oosterweel Tunnel arrived in Antwerp

June 02, 2025

The first tunnel element for the new Scheldt Tunnel, which left Zeebrugge on Friday, arrived on Sunday in the port of Antwerp. The 160-meter-long, 42-meter-wide, and 60,000-ton colossus made a journey of more than 100 kilometers across the North Sea and the Scheldt, floated by four tugs and a pusher. It now remains “parked” in […]

IATA sounds alarm over aviation decarbonization targets

June 02, 2025

The airline industry’s ambition to move to zero emissions by 2050 is in jeopardy. This was stated by IATA, the global airline umbrella organization, at a summit in New Delhi, India, to discuss the state of the industry. The aviation sector currently produces approximately 3% of global CO2 emissions; however, due to climate-skeptic policies, including […]

France finally has a center for checking fire on aircraft engines

May 27, 2025

After the US, France now also has the necessary equipment to conduct fire resistance tests on aircraft engines. So reports the French business newspaper Le Figaro. The platform for aircraft engine fire research will be located at the French National Center for Aerospace Research (ONERA), 15 km south of Toulouse. The center, founded in 1968, […]

Dutch railroads abolishes sizeable portion of 1st class on Sprinters

May 27, 2025

The Dutch railroad company NS is going to remove first class in about half of all Sprinter trains to create additional second-class seats. A total of 3,580 additional second-class seats would be involved. According to NS, first class in the sprinter, a train for short travel distances used for stopping services, is only about 10% […]

Historic drop in CO2 emissions in Flanders in 2023

May 26, 2025

Greenhouse gas emissions in Flanders have fallen to their lowest point this century. So reports Statistics Flanders, based on figures from the Flemish Environment Agency for 2023. Emissions, still accounting for 65,4 megatons (Mton) of greenhouse gas CO2 equivalents, were notably lower than in the COVID-19 year 2020. Decrease of 3,5 Mton CO2 In 2023, […]

Fleming increasingly chooses bicycle for transport, but car remains king

May 25, 2025

The bicycle continues gaining popularity in Flanders: 18,5% of Flemish travel by (electric) bicycle. In other words, never has there been so much cycling in Flanders. This is according to the Flemish government’s seventh study on travel behavior in Flanders. By comparison, in the Netherlands, 27% of journeys are made by bicycle. Still, the car […]

Walloon’s TEC also goes electric

May 23, 2025

The Walloon public transport company TEC has put the first full electric bus into service. This happened in Liège. The bus in question is a Mercedes-Benz Citaro. The ambition is to be fully electric by 2045. “With this first 100% e-bus, TEC opens a new chapter in its history: that of a cleaner, quieter and […]

LEZ fines in Brussels almost halved, citizen’s associations go to Court against postponement

May 22, 2025

Last year, 16,403 fines were issued in the Brussels region for motorists who entered the low-emission zone (LEZ) with an overly polluting car. That’s almost a halving from the record year of 2023, when 29,643 drivers were fined. Meanwhile, several citizens’ associations have started proceedings at the Constitutional Court to annul the two-year postponement of […]

Many Belgians don’t know the rules for e-scooters

May 21, 2025

Three years after the introduction of stricter rules for e-scooters, many Belgians still do not know the most important rules. This emerges from a new representative survey by the traffic institute Vias. For example, 44% of those surveyed do not know that you must be at least 16 years old to drive an e-scooter. The […]

Falling financial figures for Ryanair, but O’Leary step closer to €100 million bonus

May 20, 2025

Ryanair’s net profit is down 16% compared to last year, to 1,6 billion euros. That’s according to figures for the fiscal year that ended at the end of March. The Irish low-cost carriers had to cut their prices by 7% to fill up planes. That strategy led to a record number of just over 200 […]

Antwerp port has premiere with Europe’s first e-tug

May 20, 2025

Since yesterday, the Volta 1, the first electric tug in Europe, has been sailing in the Antwerp port area. With the commissioning of Volta 1, the port is taking another step towards greening. In the long term, the port wants no tugboats to run on diesel fuel anymore because diesel still causes a lot of […]

Airline tickets prices keep rising

May 19, 2025

Airline ticket prices have risen sharply over the past few years, and the trend is not over yet. According to the Belgian statistics bureau Statbel, the average cost of tickets rose by 11,1% in April. That makes you pay as much as 71% more for a plane ticket today than you did 20 years ago, […]

Number of NMBS/SNCB fare dodgers explodes

May 19, 2025

The number of fare dodgers at the Belgian public transport company NMBS/SNCB is rising. Last year, nearly 700,000 passengers without tickets were caught red-handed at the railroad company. Sudinfo newspapers have reported the news. This is a remarkable 40% increase compared to 2023, some 200,000 more than two years ago. Impact of tens of millions […]

Two new smart energy tariffs play into EV owner’s hands

May 15, 2025

Smart energy tariffs are becoming increasingly popular for their flexibility and potential to save costs. Smappee, an award-winning tech company from Kortrijk, is also capitalizing on that market trend by launching a virtual battery. In this service, solar panel owners can stockpile their unused power as a credit that allows them to charge their EV […]

Statutory civil servants at Belgian rail will disappear

May 14, 2025

From January 2028, the Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB will no longer conduct statutory recruitments. This is stated in the preliminary agreement that the railroad unions ACOD Spoor, ACV-Transcom, and VSOA Spoor reached with Minister of Mobility Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés). From now on, new employees will be recruited by contract, which will eventually lead […]

UK’s Motability Operations demos prototype of wheelchair-friendly EV

May 13, 2025

Motability Operations, the UK’s largest car leasing company, has presented a wheelchair-accessible electric demonstration vehicle to encourage manufacturers to ensure that wheelchair users are also included in the transition to EVs. Plans to market such an electric wheelchair-accessible vehicle (eWAV) are not yet concrete. But in cooperation with South Korean auto giant Kia, Motability Operations […]

CAF order for De Lijn withheld by Minister

May 09, 2025

Flemish Mobility Minister Annick De Ridder (N-VA) wants the public transport company De Lijn to work out a new framework agreement for a planned order of some 30 streetcars for Antwerp. The order is with Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF). The price would suddenly be 1.5 times higher, and the […]

Infrabel to fight weeds with electricity and liquid nitrogen

May 08, 2025

Belgian railroad network manager Infrabel is conducting tests using liquid nitrogen and electricity, among other things, to control weeds in and along the tracks. It does so with its Dutch counterpart, ProRail, and the international railroad organization UIC. Both rail network managers are looking for new methods to control weeds on the tracks, although the […]

KiM: ‘Dutch fly and drive 100 billion kilometers per year’

May 07, 2025

Last year, the Dutch flew 100 billion km, or 2.5 million times around the world. This was calculated by the Knowledge Institute for Mobility Policy (KiM). It’s as many kilometers as the Dutch drive by car annually, but with the difference that half of all the kilometers flown are traveled by 9% of the Dutch […]

New lobby group aims to make aviation more sustainable

May 06, 2025

Aviation’s future is at risk if it does not undergo a fundamental transition, says ‘Call Aviation to Action,’ a group of more than 50 aviation executives urging the sector to become more sustainable. The Dutch initiative, which includes various people, including directors, pilots, and technicians, believes that aviation cannot possibly continue on its current course […]

Belgium misses deadline for climate plans again

May 05, 2025

Belgium will not be able to submit its National Energy and Climate Plan (NEKP) to the European Commission on May 12th, even though the Commission’s new deadline expires then. According to the cabinet of federal Climate Minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés), the delay is due to Flanders. Belgium is now committed to submitting the plan […]

Belgium rail operator NMBS/SNCB may expect a bonus

May 05, 2025

Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB may soon collect a bonus for last year’s performance. According to its publication, ‘Realizations and Key Figures 2024,’ this is because it performed better than agreed upon in several areas. Built into the public service contract between the federal government and NMBS/SNCB is a bonus-malus system of up to 5 […]

Stricter rules for super wind turbines in Flanders

May 05, 2025

Flemish Environment Minister Jo Brouns (CD&V) is introducing stricter distance rules for large wind turbines. This is reported by the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. For windmills higher than 200 meters, the distance to the first residence must from now on be at least three times the tip height. “Flanders is too small to place such […]

Lufthansa’s ‘difficult summer’, Brussels Airlines in red due to strikes

May 03, 2025

Trade tensions between the United States and Europe may cloud the important summer airline season. So says Lufthansa, pointing to changed consumer behavior due to economic uncertainty. Brussels Airlines, a subsidiary of the German airline group, suffered an adjusted operating loss (EBIT) of 53 million euros during the first quarter of this year. However, because […]

CO2 levels European aviation sector back to pre-Covid levels

April 29, 2025

CO2 emissions from planes taking off from a European airport last year are back almost at the same level as in 2019, before the Covid-19 crisis. So, Transport & Environment (T&E) reports. The NGO that fights for more environmentally friendly transportation calls the airlines’ promise to return greener after the coronavirus pandemic “a joke.” Last […]

De Lijn now also has its articulated e-buses

April 29, 2025

Flemish public transport operator De Lijn has presented its first electric articulated bus in Leuven. By July this year, 109 articulated e-buses will be in service in Flanders. The buses are part of a framework agreement under which De Lijn can order up to 500 such vehicles from the Italian industrial vehicle manufacturing company Iveco. […]

New streetcar Liège finally on the rails

April 28, 2025

It was quite a saga, but the new streetcar in Liège went out for its first official public run this morning. After two months of testing on the new rails, the streetcar switched to its commercial speed of 20 k/h. The streetcar, renamed “the white snake” by designer Michel Redolfi, and the new mobility network […]

More commuter accidents due to increasing use of soft mobility

April 25, 2025

The number of accidents to and from work is increasing as more and more people travel to work by (electric) bike or on foot. That’s according to figures from insurer Ethias, based on an analysis of more than 7,500 recent claim files. Such accidents also impact the workplace, as 41% of absenteeism is due to […]

Mobility Minister Crucke reports preliminary agreement with rail unions

April 24, 2025

Belgian Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) has reached a preliminary agreement with rail unions on issues including personnel management, legal responsibilities, and the modernization of staff status. The agreement with representatives of HR Rail, NMBS/SNCB, Infrabel, and the unions ACOD Spoor, ACV Transcom, and VSOA Spoor may not be enough to also avert next […]

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