The Belgian public railway company NMBS/SNCB will cancel some P-trains today and tomorrow due to the heat wave. These are mostly older, non-air-conditioned trains that have been parked in direct sunlight all day.
Passengers are advised to plan their trips before departure via the NMBS/SNCB website or app.
No airco
P-trains operate during peak hours. They make one trip in the morning and the next in the evening. The rest of the day, they are parked outdoors in direct sunlight. When temperatures are high, it becomes too hot inside these trains to operate safely for both passengers and staff. Furthermore, some P-trains use the oldest train sets, which lack air conditioning.
By reducing the number of trains primarily during peak hours, the risk of malfunctioning trains disrupting service across an entire line is lowered. With fewer trains running, there is a smaller chance that multiple trains will come to a standstill between two stations due to the heat.
TreinTramBus not satisfied
The passenger advocacy group TreinTramBus is not satisfied with the NMBS/SNCB’s communication. “They should have the decency to specify which P-trains are affected,” Peter Meukens told VRT NWS. “Now, passengers must check their routes on their own. That’s absurd.”
According to the news channel, which contacted NMBS/SNCB itself, the issue mainly concerns P-trains to and from Brussels and a few around Ghent.
TreinTramBus also notes that, aside from the P-trains, about 20% of the NMBS/SNCB train sets are still not equipped with air conditioning. “On top of that, some trains don’t have ‘real’ air conditioning, but rather pulsed air. That doesn’t create a cool environment.” The last trains without air conditioning are expected to be phased out by 2032.
Bring a bottle of water with you
Passengers are also advised to drink plenty of water and to carry a bottle of water with them. If a passenger becomes ill due to the heat, notify the train attendant or station staff immediately. You can also call Securail’s toll-free emergency number 0800/30 230.
Additional inspections
In general, Belgian trains can withstand a typical hot summer, but not every vehicle or piece of infrastructure is equally resilient to prolonged extreme conditions.
For example, rails can expand. Belgian rails are tension-free and calibrated for around 25°C, but additional heating causes pressure to build up. In exceptional cases, the rail can deform laterally, which is unsafe. Heat can also cause malfunctions in detection systems embedded in the track.
Overhead wires can also sag in extreme heat. After all, heat causes the wire to expand and sag slightly. This increases the risk that a train’s pantograph will damage the wire. A single defect can block an entire line.
Furthermore, the cooling and propulsion systems are also under heavy strain. Air conditioning must dissipate heat, but since the outside air itself is already hot, even on modern trains, the cooling of electrical propulsion components can be a weak link.
In any case, railway infrastructure manager Infrabel is conducting additional inspections of the tracks, switches, overhead lines, cooling systems for electrical installations, and fire-prone embankments. NMBS/SNCB is also bolstering its maintenance and repair crews.
Neighboring countries also face the same problems
Belgium is not particularly weak in this regard. Virtually all of Northwestern Europe has railway and rolling stock that were historically designed for a more temperate climate and therefore never for extreme weather conditions, both cold and hot.
The Netherlands faces the same fundamental problem, but NS is, among other things, adjusting the cooling systems on high-speed trains and using sensor data to detect problems earlier.
In France, speed limits are imposed when rails and overhead wires become too hot. SNCF Réseau monitors rail temperatures with sensors and issues warnings when rail temperatures reach around 45°C; during extreme heat, the schedule may be adjusted so that only air-conditioned trains operate.
Deutsche Bahn states that modern railways can remain stable even at track temperatures above 60°C, but at the same time emphasizes that signaling, traffic control, and their cooling systems are not equally modern everywhere. However, 99% of the long-distance fleet is equipped with air conditioning, and DB says that the ICE 4 air conditioning systems are normally designed for outside temperatures up to 54°C. But prolonged extreme heat can still expose vulnerabilities.
