May 02, 2023
In the first quarter of 2023, 72,8 million travelers used the buses and streetcars of the Flemish public transport company De Lijn. That is an increase of 43% compared to the same period last year. De Lijn will also equip all its buses with 3D cameras to count more accurately. Passenger numbers at De Lijn […]
April 27, 2023
Last year, for the first time since its existence, the ombudsperson office for train passengers reported more complaints about international train traffic than domestic traffic. That is what the 2022 annual report of Ombudsrail indicates. In 2022, Ombudsrail received 3 395 files for which it is responsible, compared to 2 665 one year before. Almost […]
April 27, 2023
Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB has introduced a new generation of tram vehicles. The first TNG vehicle was deployed on the northern section of line 51, between Brussels South Station and the Stadion stop at the King Boudewijn Stadium. The TNG, for ‘Tram New Generation’, is intended to strengthen the tram offer in Brussels. Over […]
April 26, 2023
In Kortrijk, Belgian’s public transport company De Lijn, in collaboration with the city and the police, has introduced a bus ban for someone who caused a nuisance on a bus. It is the first time in Flanders that this new type of place ban has been applied. The measure means that the person in question […]
April 25, 2023
Agents of Securail, the security service of Belgian railway company NMBS/SNCB, had to intervene 32 000 times last year. That is an average of almost 90 interventions per day. This is reported by the newspaper La Dernière Heure. NMBS/SNCB also plans to recruit 150 new staff for its Securail security service this year. Recruitment is […]
April 24, 2023
Last week it already became known that night trains would be available in the Brussels region until two in the morning. At a more detailed presentation Friday of the NMBS/SNCB global 2023-2026 transport plan, more details became known for the province of Flemish Brabant. Apart from more trains at weekends and on Friday and Saturday […]
April 21, 2023
From 2026, Flemish public transport company De Lijn risks paying an estimated 30 million euros in fines because Euro 6 buses will then no longer be allowed in the low-emission zones (LEZ) in Antwerp and Ghent. To avoid that scenario, Flemish Minister of Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open VLD) is in a crisis meeting with her […]
April 21, 2023
Starting in June, anyone who wants can participate via an app in the ongoing initiatives that Belgian railroad company NMBS/SNCB is trying out through its Innovation Lab to make rail travel more attractive to travelers. So write several newspapers, including La Capital and Het Laatste Nieuws. Receiving real-time information via your cell phone about replacement […]
April 21, 2023
The self-driving shuttles riding around on the domain of the Terhills Resort in Maasmechelen are now completely autonomous. The presence of a safety steward is no longer needed. The shuttle project is unique in Belgium and exceptional in Europe. The vehicles were officially introduced in May last year in the presence of the Flemish Ministers […]
April 20, 2023
Iveco Bus has inaugurated its new electric bus production facility in Foggia, Italy, near the Iveco Group FPT Industrial plant for industrial engines. This new Foggia factory should also produce the 500 ordered electric buses for the Flemish public transport company De Lijn. Iveco Bus was already present in Italy with its Suzarra plant, which […]
April 20, 2023
The Brussels bus, metro, and tram company MIVB/STIB scores 7,3 out of 10 on the company’s satisfaction barometer, the same score as the two previous years and better than any other public transport in Belgium. “A clear recognition from passengers about the investments in public transport,” says CEO Brieuc de Meeùs. The metro remains the […]
April 20, 2023
Dutch railroad company NS carried passengers on a new intercity train between Amsterdam and Rotterdam for the first time Wednesday. The intention is to use that new Intercity New Generation (ICNG) later between Amsterdam and Brussels. NS reported this in a press release. The new trains would allow you to track half an hour faster […]
April 18, 2023
It was already known that the Belgian railroad company NMBS/SNCB will add up to 2 000 additional trains per week in the 2023-2026 transport plan and that there will also be late trains on Friday and Saturday evenings. However, NMBS/SNCB is developing a concrete update for the Brussels Region. For example, 26 stations in Brussels […]
April 14, 2023
Belgian railway company NMBS/SNCB is renovating toilets in 14 major train stations “according to a new total concept”. NMBS/SNCB will collaborate with specialized Dutch company 2theloo for this purpose. The existing toilets in the 14 stations will be gradually rebuilt over the coming months, with partial or complete renovations. With the new uniform concept, there […]
April 13, 2023
Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB is behind schedule for the electrification of its bus fleet. So reports the newspaper La Capital. However, that time is short may be clear because, in 2025, a series of buses of MIVB/STIB will no longer meet the standards of the low-emission zone (LEZ). Delays in construction or transformation of […]
April 13, 2023
Amsterdam should become a full-fledged European hub for train travel across Europe by 2025. So says the top woman of the Eurostar Group, Gwendoline Cazenave, in an interview with the Dutch news agency ANP. An additional Eurostar train and a redevelopment of Amsterdam Central Station should contribute. Currently, four trains depart daily from Amsterdam for […]
April 12, 2023
The waterbus between Brussels and Vilvoorde carried 45 535 passengers in 2022. This reports the operator Rivertours, which has been offering waterbus trips since 2013. The figures are more than a five-fold increase compared to the launch year. Because the boats’ capacity was limited during the corona years of 2020 and 2021, comparison with those […]
April 07, 2023
Of the planned 1 966 Hoppin Points in Flanders, barely 65 have been completed today, only three percent of the network, the newspaper Het Belang van Limburg writes. However, the new mobility hubs envisioned by the Flemish Minister for Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) are crucial in the Basic Accessibility plan. That plan designs a […]
April 03, 2023
Belgian railway company NMBS/SNCB recorded a recurring operating loss of 142,6 million euros last year. Those debts were due to five consecutive wage indexations during the last year and sharply increased energy costs. Compensations from the federal government cushioned the impact so that NMBS/SNCB ended up with an operational result of 39,6 million euros. So, […]
March 30, 2023
The improvements made for the Good Move Plan in Brussels have had a positive impact on the journey times in the Pentagon and Schaerbeek of several MIVB/STIB tram and bus lines. Especially during rush hours, the travel times of the public transport company’s units are slightly shorter as a result. “Six months after its introduction, […]
March 29, 2023
Belgian public railway company NMBS/SNCB’s new transport plan for the 2023-2026 period offers 2 000 extra trains per week. At the same time, certain rush-hour trains and some 20 stops with fewer than 50 passengers per day would also be cut for this purpose. However, according to Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo), the latter should […]
March 29, 2023
Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB has ordered 70 articulated electric buses from EvoBus GmbH, a German bus and coach manufacturer and a subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, headquartered in Stuttgart (Germany). That is what MIVB/STIB announced on Tuesday. Belgian factories of Van Hool and VDL Roeselare missing the bus in this case… The buses will […]
March 27, 2023
Flemish public transport operator De Lijn plans to buy up to 600 new electric buses. With the new framework agreement, De Lijn wants to green its fleet. Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) is making at least 55 million euros a year available for the purchase of emission-free buses. Two framework agreements are involved: […]
March 24, 2023
Belgian public railway company NMBS/SNCB is launching the ‘Flex Subscription’, a ticket formula for employees who no longer need to be in the office or on the work floor daily. The first flexible subscription is one for ten travel days a month. “We want to use adapted products to make the train even more attractive […]
March 24, 2023
Belgian bus builder Van Hool has signed a contract with Qbuzz, public transport operator in the Netherlands, for the delivery of 54 battery-electric buses. Earlier, news broke that Qbuzz also ordered 63 e-buses from Ebusco. The buses will be used for regional passenger transport in the Dutch provinces of Groningen and Drenthe. Qbuzz has decided […]
March 23, 2023
Dutch electric bus manufacturer Ebusco has secured a new deal with Dutch public transport company Qbuzz, providing up to 63 Ebusco 3.0 electric buses for the Groningen and Drenthe provinces. The new-gen buses are equipped with a large battery pack, allowing them to perform their daily duties without recharging. Qbuzz is a regional public transport […]
March 23, 2023
Dutch rail is struggling with a badger plague. The animals often nest near and under railway tracks, which today is the case at forty locations, particularly in the eastern part of the country. After acute difficulties in Friesland, the animals are now causing problems between Eindhoven and Den Bosch. Rail manager ProRail fears that the […]
March 20, 2023
How could urban mobility in Brussels evolve by 2050? That is the million-dollar question of Remobilise, a research project of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). The researchers drew four possible future scenarios and are now considering policy recommendations in workshops to tackle everyday mobility challenges. “The future does not always develop as we expect. The […]
March 20, 2023
Mobility is a basic right, but for (partially) blind people, the road is, unfortunately – literally – littered with obstacles. That is why the Braille League wants to raise awareness about mobility among blind and visually impaired people. The organization, therefore, has organized a large-scale survey among about 700 respondents and is repeating its sensitizing […]
March 17, 2023
Flemish public transport operator De Lijn continues to face a shortage of drivers. For example, of the 356 drivers De Lijn recruited in 2021, almost a quarter had already left before the end of 2022. So for this year, De Lijn has to look for 900 new drivers all over Flanders. In general, you can […]
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
The die is cast: the so-called ‘three-country train’ will finally be welcome on Belgian territory. As of December, the train will connect three countries: every hour, a train will run between Liège (Belgium), Maastricht (the Netherlands), and Aachen (Germany). The plans for the three-country train – a Dutch initiative – go back to 2016, when […]
March 13, 2023
Today, one in 500 Belgian employees has a mobility budget (MOB). Their number almost doubled in one year: from 0,10% in 2021 to 1,18% in 2022. With the federal mobility budget, employees exchange their (right to a) company car for a budget they can use to organize their own mobility sustainably. Given the limited absolute […]
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 08, 2023
The Egyptian manufacturer, Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV), is entering the continental European market. The OEM has developed a bus specifically for clients in Germany and has already founded a subsidiary, MCV Deutschland GmbH, for sales, after-sales, and services. The official presentation of the integral, fully electric twelve-meter low-floor bus will take place in March at […]
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 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 02, 2023
Flemish public transport company De Lijn refuses the city of Ghent’s request to no longer remove bus stops. De Lijn counters that by saying it is adapting its bus network to the principles of ‘basic accessibility’ and that stops can disappear and be added elsewhere. “The idea is to strengthen public transport where demand is […]
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 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
On Monday, February 20th, the preparational works for an important part of the bicycle highway between Ghent and Brussels started. The F2 bicycle highway runs from Ghent – via Melle, Wetteren, and Aalst, among others – to Brussels. The F2 passes various train stations, optimizing multi-mobility. Workers began by clearing shrubs and trees near the […]
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
Dutch electric bus manufacturer Ebusco has shared figures from its record year 2022, which saw the launch of the Ebusco 3.0 and an explosive growth to 1 474 e-buses ordered. Ebusco’s workforce also doubled in 2022, but supply chain issues still hinder the company’s revenue. Ahead of presenting its full-year 2022 revenue figures, Ebusco has […]
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 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 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
The city of Amsterdam has decided to ban heavy coaches (+7,5 tons) from the city center as of 2024. The decision has been taken because the many buses – up to 450 a day – are a nuisance for inhabitants. The bus traffic causes congestion in the narrow streets of Amsterdam and creates unsafe situations […]
February 02, 2023
After the commissioning of a more powerful power supply, tunnel operator Getlink announced on Wednesday that up to 1 000 trains a day will eventually be able to use the Channel Tunnel. Previously, six trains could travel through the tunnel simultaneously in each direction. This could rise to eight in the future, including a new […]
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
The European Commission has selected ten pilot projects for new train connections between European cities. One of those pilot projects is a new night train, connecting Amsterdam, Brussels, and Barcelona, similar to European Sleeper’s earlier announced Brussels-Amsterdam-Berlin line. The Commission will also support several other pilot projects to stimulate the expansion of international rail traffic […]
January 30, 2023
Last Saturday, public transport company De Lijn inaugurated its first new trams in Deurne (Antwerp, Belgium). From Monday, January 30th, the so-called ‘city liner’ (‘stadslijner’, in Dutch) will be used for the first time on line 10, connecting Wijnegem and Schoonselhof. The new trams are 30 meters long and can transport up to 187 passengers. […]
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 26, 2023
By the end of this year, buses and trams of the Belgian public transport company TEC in Wallonia will automatically get a green light when approaching a traffic light at an intersection. This will reduce travel times, causing fewer delays, and as another positive result, allow for fewer emissions if not yet electric. To technically […]
January 26, 2023
Flemish public transport company De Lijn has placed a large order of up to 500 electric buses with Iveco, of which 65 articulated e-buses, a first for De Lijn. It’s a tough blow for the Dutch VDL group, which has a new e-bus factory in Roeselare (Belgium) but only gets an order of 75 e-buses […]
