Due to a lack of train drivers and conductors, Belgian railway operator SNCB wants to postpone the second phase of its ambitious transport plan, which was announced with great fanfare less than a year ago.
It is not clear how long the postponement will last, according to an internal SNCB memo that VRT was able to view. The plans will reportedly be discussed by the company's board of directors on Friday.
"At the board meeting, an evaluation will be made based on the feedback we get from railway operator Infrabel about tracks we requested in April, as well as the number of staff members we have available," a spokesperson for SNCB told The Brussels Times.
The company's 2023-2026 transport plan aims to increase the number of train kilometres by 7.4% over a period of three years. In October last year, SNCB called it "the most ambitious transport plan ever."
Credit: Belga / Thierry Roge
The intention was to roll out the plan in four phases: a first phase that was introduced as planned in December 2023, a second phase for December this year, a third in June 2025 and a fourth in December 2025.
According to the internal memo, SNCB mentions a postponement of the upcoming second phase but does not specify how long that postponement would last. However, the phase would be pushed back at least six months, as major changes to the timetable can only happen twice a year: in June and in December.
The reason given by SNCB for the postponement is a "lack of production resources," VRT reports. In practice, this means not enough train drivers and/or conductors.
What does this mean?
The second phase of the transport plan aimed to increase the number of trains in the evenings and during the weekend from December. Now, however, this increase will not be happening for the time being.
The memo specifies that, among other changes, there will not yet be an increase in the frequency of the IC train Charleroi-Brussels (going from one to two times per hour) and the IC train Liège-Leuven-Brussels (from one to two times per hour) during the weekend. The frequency of the S3 train Brussels-Dendermonde will not yet increase from one to two times per hour during the weekend either.
Additionally, the IC train Antwerp-Hasselt was supposed to no longer run via Aarschot during the weekend, but that will not yet happen. The S4 train Aalst-Brussels Luxembourg will not yet start running during the weekend.
The expansion of late evening trains on Fridays will not yet happen (16 trains on the Brussels city network and nine trains on the Antwerp city network), and there will be no increase in the late evening trains on Saturday evening in Brussels (15 trains) either.
Outgoing Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo)
Outgoing Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) is not happy with SNCB's decision to delay its plan and asked the management and board of directors to reverse it. During his legislature, Gilkinet concluded a management agreement with the company for the first time in years.
As SNCB received funds in return, Gilkinet expects the company to honour its commitments. "Never before has the railway company been given so many resources and clear prospects, with such a central role in our transport," he said.
"Now it is up to SNCB to do its part, to seize this opportunity and organise itself to achieve the targets, for the first time in a decade," Gilkinet added. "If they do not, the risk is that our ambitions will be scaled back and the contracts we have signed will be called into question by the future government, whose plans to dismantle the railways are already clear. This would be dramatic for the company, all employees and passengers."
