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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
April 28, 2025
Dégage!, a Ghent-based non-profit organization that offers private car sharing throughout Flanders, grew solidly last year, with 900 new users and nearly 150 additional shared cars. Through Dégage!, owners can lend their private cars to people in their neighborhood. Part of the costs are then reimbursed to the owner. Within Dégage, 543 cars are shared, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
April 23, 2025
Antwerp-based maritime group CMB.TECH, formerly Euronav, wants to merge with Norwegian dry bulk carrier Golden Ocean Group. The merger would create one of the world’s largest diversified listed maritime groups with a combined fleet of more than 250 vessels. A final agreement would be concluded this quarter, with the merger to be completed in the […]
April 22, 2025
Brussels Airport will invest half a billion euros in infrastructure to accommodate the passenger growth expected in the coming years. The project involves the construction of a new intermodal hub, an expansion of the departure and arrival hall, a new hotel, a new drop-off zone, and a green boulevard with a park. The investment is […]
April 18, 2025
The Flemish public transport company De Lijn has long planned to deploy self-driving buses, but the plans just don’t seem to be getting off the ground. For example, a pilot project was underway in Leuven. However, the tendering procedure for the framework contract appears to have been put on hold. The ambition to have an […]
April 18, 2025
The Belgian Council of State has suspended the public railroad company NMBS/SNCB’s decision to designate Spanish CAF as the preferred bidder for purchasing new trainsets. The decision came after co-bidder Alstom went to court to ask for it to be suspended. The Council judges that NMBS/SNCB has not been sufficiently transparent in its decision. As […]
April 17, 2025
Staff of the Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB were victims of aggression 2,102 times in 2024. That’s about 200 fewer reports of aggression compared to the previous year, but it still equates to staff being victims of aggression an average of nearly six times a day. The figures are down from 2023 and 2022 (1,900 […]
April 17, 2025
American ride-hailing platform Lyft is buying the taxi app FreeNow from German luxury car brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The Uber competitor is paying 175 million euros for this and wants to use it as a lever to enter Europe under its own name. Lyft is primarily a ride-hailing platform that connects passengers with drivers through […]
April 16, 2025
China has ordered its airlines to stop taking further deliveries from Boeing, the US manufacturer that, along with Airbus, ranks as one of the world’s largest aircraft producers. This reports news agency Bloomberg. This is a retaliatory measure in the trade war launched by US President Donald Trump. Beijing has also asked Chinese airlines to […]
April 15, 2025
Energy company Engie has started constructing a solar park on its site in Rodenhuize, the peninsula in the port of Ghent that already houses three wind turbines and an ultra-fast charging station for EVs. Starting this summer, the installation will produce about 5.7 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually, enough for the average consumption of […]
April 14, 2025
As already known, the Belgian railroad company NMBS/SNCB must save over 675 million euros from the new government. But now the business newspaper L’Echo/De Tijd is also publishing more detailed figures on what those savings must look like year by year. This year, the railroads must save 50 million euros from the De Wever government. […]
April 11, 2025
The Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB is introducing a flexible parking subscription, an initiative that aims to respond mainly to commuters who regularly work from home and thus do not take the train to work every day. With this, NMBS/SNCB wants to capitalize on the success of telecommuting, which is now well established in the […]
April 10, 2025
The EU has new legislation that is ready to reduce plastic pollution in the environment. For example, companies that produce or transport small plastic pellets will face stricter regulations. The rules will apply to all companies that handle more than five tons of plastic pellets annually within the EU. They will also cover companies using […]
April 09, 2025
Not a week goes by now, so to speak, without a new competitor to the Eurostar being announced. Now, the Italian rail group Ferrovie dello Stato also wants to run high-speed trains between London and Paris via the Channel Tunnel by 2029. It has planned an investment of one billion euros for this purpose. It […]
April 09, 2025
The Auditor of the Council of State advises to suspend the decision of Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB on the order of new trains. This is what the public broadcaster VRT writes on its website. NMBS/SNCB chose Spanish company CAF as the preferred bidder to build hundreds of new trains, an order worth 3.4 billion […]
April 08, 2025
Ombudsrail, the Belgian ombudsman service for rail passengers, was contacted 4,154 times last year, up 7.6% from 2023. On that basis, 1,089 files were opened, accounting for 2,344 complaints – one file can contain several complaints. Seven out of ten complaints in this regard were filed in Dutch. Together with even older complaints, just over […]
April 07, 2025
French train builder Alstom is planning a significant expansion in France. The company plans to invest 150 million euros and recruit at least 1,000 people this year. The investments and hiring are coming to meet the increased demand for high-speed trains. The plan is to start a new production line at Alstom’s Valenciennes plant. At […]
April 07, 2025
Belgian high-voltage grid operator Elia is calling for vigilance over solar overproduction. Due to the sunny spring and the large number of solar panels installed, an overproduction could lead to negative prices and a frequency increase, threatening blackouts. Unlike last year, when this phenomenon occurred mainly in the summer, Elia notes that the risk is […]
April 04, 2025
Rehabilitation physicians at UZ Ghent want a bicycle helmet to become mandatory in Belgium. After all, less than a third of Belgians (29%) wear a bicycle helmet, but out of the nearly four in ten victims of injury accidents involving bicycles and speed pedelecs who ended up in a Belgian hospital in 2023 had a […]
April 03, 2025
Irish airline Ryanair ended its fiscal year with a record: for the first time in its history, it rounded the 200 million passenger mark. The airline says it is the first time a European airline has done so. Based on passenger figures, Lufthansa, which includes Brussels Airlines, is the number two airline in Europe. That […]
April 02, 2025
The European Commission has fined 15 major automakers 485 million euros for participating in a cartel involving the recycling of end-of-life vehicles. The fines apply to BMW, Ford, Volkswagen, Volvo, and the European automobile trade association ACEA, among others. All companies admitted involvement in the cartel and agreed to the settlement. Mercedes-Benz escaped a fine […]
April 02, 2025
Between 2019 and 2023, business flights fell by 34%. That’s according to a new report by the NGO Transport & Environment. However, 44% of the 326 companies in the Travel Smart ranking still have no target applying to business travel, putting overall progress at risk. Especially the disproportionate flying of private jets by large companies […]
April 02, 2025
An international group is acquiring Belgian auto glass group Soliver, also known as AGP. It is not known which international player is involved or how high the bid is. The new owner wants to continue operations in Belgium under a new name and would take over most of the approximately 1,000 employees. Soliver makes auto […]
April 01, 2025
“Eurostar’s London depot could accommodate additional trains if necessary.” With a simple phrase, British rail regulator ORR has cleared the way for more Eurostar competition. Virgin, the group around British billionaire Richard Branson interested in operating a train link between London and continental Europe, said that it welcomed the “green light for competition.” Battle for […]
March 31, 2025
This weekend, the Belgian railroad manager Infrabel slid a 750-ton railroad tunnel under the tracks at the station of Wezemaal, near Rotselaar in Flemish Brabant. The concrete element, 18 meters long, 14 meters wide, and almost 4 meters high, was placed under the tracks via a special metal chute. The tunnel should provide a better […]
March 31, 2025
Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB posted an operating profit, i.e., before interest and tax costs, of 131.6 million euros last year, down 10.6 million euros compared to 2023. The number of passengers rose slightly in 2024 to 245.1 million. “This is an increase for the third year in a row, but the return of commuters […]
March 28, 2025
Europe’s major airlines think that Europe’s ReFuel legislation is not going to succeed in creating the affordable market for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that is promised. They said this at a press conference in Brussels. They fear there will not be enough production. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report, released on Thursday, predicts a shortfall […]
March 27, 2025
Brussels Airlines has presented its new themed aircraft, an Airbus A320 painted with a design based on the Atomium. The theme was chosen after a design competition. The first commercial flight of ‘Atomium’ is scheduled today toward Prague. However, on Monday, it will most likely not fly. Due to the general strike in Belgium directed […]
March 26, 2025
Residents, commuters, and visitors to the city of Liège will have to be more patient if they want to use the new streetcar. The inauguration has been postponed again, this time to April 28th. The Walloon public transport company TEC indicates that several technical problems remain, so it has a new start date. Streetcars have […]
March 26, 2025
The Brussels prosecutor’s office is prosecuting an influencer with more than 40,000 followers who filmed himself several times while driving at very high speeds through the capital. The man reached speeds as high as 250 km/hour in the Brussels tunnels. The public prosecutor has summoned the man to the police court, where he must answer […]
March 25, 2025
After Virgin Trains and Spain’s Evolyn, another candidate has come forward with plans to run passenger trains through the Channel Tunnel: British Gemini Trains. There is no timescale yet for when Eurostar’s new potential competitor plans to run services between London and continental Europe, particularly Paris and Brussels, although other media are talking about 2029. […]
March 24, 2025
Brussels Airport is adding six new destinations to its network this summer, starting on March 30th. These destinations are both within Europe and intercontinental. Passengers will be able to fly directly from Brussels Airport to 180 destinations offered by 68 airlines. Some new summer destinations, such as Curaçao (TUI fly) and Bangkok (Thai Airways International), […]
March 24, 2025
The Brussels Parliament has approved the proposal for an ordinance clarifying specific provisions postponing the tightening of the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) until January 1, 2027. The vote was 67 to 14, with the Greens and DéFI voting against and Benjamin Dalle (CD&V) abstaining. Whether this definitively eliminates the problems remains to be seen. Touring, […]
March 22, 2025
With 540,356 bikes sold, bicycle sales in Belgium have declined for the second consecutive year. Mobility federation Traxio Velo announced this at the Bike Brussels trade fair opening at Tour & Taxis, which runs until Sunday. However, this slight 4.75% drop isn’t necessarily a cause for concern, says Frank Glorieux, General Secretary of Traxio Velo. […]
March 20, 2025
Advertisers may have returned, and the value may be valued again at 44 billion dollars, but individuals and companies continue to abandon social media platform X. For example, De Lijn, NMBS/SNCB, TEC, and MIVB/STIB, each with a separate message on the same platform, have stated that they are leaving X. The main reason seems to […]
March 20, 2025
French logistics group CMA CGM, best known for its container ships, has also submitted a bid to take over cargo operations with airline Air Belgium. The cargo operations of the judicially reorganized Air Belgium were first to be taken over by Air One Belgium. But about two weeks ago, the Nivelles business court reversed that […]
March 19, 2025
The Belgian FPS Mobility registered 277 reports on unruly airline passengers in 2024, according to the newspaper Le Soir. Although FPS Mobility does not have precise statistics on in-flight aggression, crew testimony shows that alcohol and nicotine addiction often play a role in incidents. Indeed, according to the figures on the in-flight incident count of […]
March 19, 2025
The new federal government wants to explore the idea of driverless trains and see if trains without a train attendant, the so-called ‘one-man car,’ can be done. This is according to the policy statement of federal Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés). The proposal is remarkable. On the one hand, it may help bring down […]
March 18, 2025
De Lijn’s buses and streetcars were involved in a combined 23 accidents per day last year, a record average. Overall, in 2024, buses were involved in 7,207 accidents, and streetcars in 1,191. So, the numbers are on the rise, as are the number of victims. The figures also show that De Lijn is often not […]
March 17, 2025
Space X boss Elon Musk wants Starship to make its first trip to Mars by the end of 2026, with the humanoid robot Tesla Optimus aboard. He said three to five years later, he could follow flights with humans. “The Starship will leave for Mars late next year, with Optimus on board. If landings go […]
March 17, 2025
Engie, the French energy giant that owns several nuclear power plants in Belgium, announced that it is “open to talks on Belgium’s nuclear energy policy.” Engie repeatedly emphasized earlier it was a cool lover of the idea and indicated that it wanted to end its nuclear activities. While Belgian Luminus CEO Grégoire Dallemagnes hinted in […]
March 14, 2025
The works for the first phase of the streetcar connection between Brussels Airport and the NATO headquarters in Haren will start at the end of this year. So reports De Werkvennootschap, which is coordinating the project. It involves the construction of the streetcar and bicycle viaduct over the Brussels Ring in Machelen. The works should […]
March 14, 2025
Bad luck to those who would like to book city trips on the Nightjet trains: The Nightjet will stop running between Brussels and Berlin. From March 27th, the offer will disappear, according to the NMBS/SNCB international train travel website. The reason for the discontinuation of the services is not given, but the competition has probably […]
March 13, 2025
According to communications from Wanfeng to investors, Chinese concern Wanfeng wants to acquire Volocopter, the German maker of flying cabs that take off vertically. Volocopter initiated bankruptcy proceedings late last year and hoped for a relaunch with new investors. Wanfeng wants to acquire the start-up for 10 million euros. Pioneer Volocopter makes vertically rising electric […]
March 12, 2025
The Air France-KLM Group and Lufthansa aim for a stake in Spanish airline Air Europa. According to Spanish online media El Confidential, they have each submitted separate bids to enter Air Europa’s capital for 300 million and 240 million euros, respectively. Air Europa is Spain’s third-largest airline after Iberia and Vueling. The airline also operates […]
March 11, 2025
The Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB has already made more than 440 bus and streetcar stops wheelchair accessible. Many metro stations have also been adapted for persons with reduced mobility. In 2025, about half of the 2,223 above-ground pre-metro stations and bus stops have been made more accessible to persons with reduced mobility, subject to […]
March 11, 2025
Brussels-based holding company D’Ieteren enjoyed a record year with over a billion euros in pre-tax profits. The importer of VW vehicles and parent company to auto glass repairer Belron/Carglass, among others, came in at 1,065 billion euros in 2024. That’s 9.6% better than in 2023. Total sales also rose 3.5% to 12.07 billion euros. More […]
March 10, 2025
The Flemish government wants to open the new Scheldt tunnel of the Oosterweel connection on January 1, 2030, a year earlier than planned. The intention of the earlier opening is to absorb part of the rising costs, which have arisen mainly due to the PFAS contamination in the 3 M region. Gap of €800 million […]
March 10, 2025
Virgin Group’s British businessman and billionaire Richard Branson wants to raise 700 million pounds (834 million euros) from investors to launch a train service between Brussels, Paris, and London to rival Eurostar, reports the Financial Times business newspaper. Virgin expects to tune the trains as early as 2029, initially from London to Paris and Brussels […]
March 07, 2025
Getlink, the operator of the Channel Tunnel, posted a net profit of 317 million euros last year, down 5% from 2023. The drop in profits is due to the suspension of services from ElecLink, the high-voltage cable linking France and England through the Channel Tunnel. Competition from ferries also played tricks on Getlink. EuroTunnel, Getlink’s subsidiary […]
March 06, 2025
Brussels Airlines posted another record profit last year thanks to a “very successful” second half of the year. Adjusted operating profit (ebit) went up 11% to 59 million euros, a new record. The airline also expects “significant growth” for this year. “During the first half of the year we faced some challenges, which did not allow […]
March 05, 2025
Belgian Trends-Tendances magazine reports that Spanish-listed train builder CAF has won a tender to build hundreds of trains for Belgian railroad company NMBS/SNCB. French player Alstom, which is firmly entrenched in Belgium, missed out on the contract worth more than 3 billion euros, even though it was cheaper than the Spanish competitor. According to La […]
March 05, 2025
Flemish public transport company De Lijn paid more than 70,000 euros in fines last year for violations of low-emission zones (LEZ), a multiple of the 2,350 euros from 2023. A total of 384 fines were involved. Especially Antwerp and Ghent, together with Brussels, the only three active LEZ in Belgium, were mainly responsible. In Antwerp, […]
