Currently, you can still buy a ticket from the conductor on a train operated by the Belgian national railway company NMBS/SNCB for a €9 surcharge, known as the onboard fare. But that will end on July 1. The railways aim to accelerate digitization and make fraud more difficult.
Starting July 1, anyone traveling without a ticket will immediately violate the rules while aboard an NMBS/SNCB train. The passenger can regularize their status only by paying €90 within 14 days. To do so, fare dodgers must provide their identification details.
If that payment is not made on time, an administrative fine of €250 will be imposed. For a repeat offense, the fine increases to €500. For passengers who cannot present identification, the train conductor may call in security.
Pay first, then travel
With the new ‘pay first, then travel’ measure, NMBS/SNCB aims to reduce the risk of aggression against staff and the number of fraud cases. “Disputes over the lack of a valid ticket are the main cause of aggression against staff,” says NMBS/SNCB.
“In 2025, no fewer than 2,602 cases of aggression against NMBS/SNCB staff were recorded, or an average of seven per day. Unfortunately, this number has risen compared to 2024, when 2,103 cases of aggression were recorded.”
Currently, 7% of passengers are unable to present a valid ticket during an inspection. Onboard sales accounted for less than 1,5% of total sales last year.
Problem for the digitally illiterate
NMBS/SCNB is also stepping up its fight against fraud through additional inspections, including mobile teams dedicated specifically to ticket chess. The number of inspections rose by half last year compared to 2024.
The railway company is also exploring installing ticket barriers at stations. Federal Minister of Mobility Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) is in favor of this.
People who are not comfortable using a smartphone or the NMBS/SNCB app, such as some older adults or vulnerable groups, are particularly hard hit by this measure. If there is no working ticket machine at a small station, they have no alternative once they board the train. In that case, the only thing you can do is rely on the help or goodwill of another passenger.
Although the NMBS/SNCB states that passengers can contact Customer Service if a ticket machine is out of order, in practice, this often leads to stress and arguments with conductors who are not always aware of a local malfunction. In any case, if the ticket machine is not yet listed as defective, the ticket will be issued for €90, and the passenger must then contact Customer Service.
European trend
The friendly conductor who quickly issues a ticket for a hurried traveler who hasn’t had time to buy one is disappearing across nearly all of Europe. As a result, trains are becoming more like airplanes: you arrange everything in advance, and the onboard check is now merely a verification, not a point-of-sale transaction with a surcharge.
For example, in the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Spain, it has been impossible for years to buy a ticket from the conductor. If you board without one, you’ll immediately be fined plus the fare.
On Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance trains, there is still a digital grace period: you can buy a ticket via the DB app up to ten minutes after departure, but after that, you are officially a fare dodger, so buying in advance is the norm here as well.
