Belgian railway operator SNCB has received a complaint against a train conductor who greeted passengers with "goeiemorgen-bonjour" on a train in the Flemish city of Vilvoorde. According to Belgium's language rules, announcements on trains in Flanders should be made exclusively in Dutch.
Train conductor Ilyass Alba, known for his posts on social media about daily life on the railways, shared the news online. The complaint against him was filed with the Committee on Language Monitoring by a passenger who felt Alba had broken the rules when greeting passengers in both Dutch and French whilst the train was near Vilvoorde.
"According to the applicable language rules, he should have spoken exclusively in Dutch during such an announcement," Dimitri Temmerman, SNCB spokesperson, told The Brussels Times. The railway operator confirmed that this was not the first time they had received such a language-related complaint.
SNCB is calling for "more flexibility" in the language rules, Temmerman said. "We understand why the rules exist and it is important that they are respected, but there is no need for this rigidity. This is a bit ridiculous, frankly."
Kafkaesque
In a social media post, Alba added that he did not make any official announcements in French while still in Vilvoorde, but only greeted all passengers in both languages when entering a compartment to check their tickets. This is not against the rules.
Currently, train conductors must adhere to location-specific language guidelines. In Flanders, all announcements and information on the digital boards inside trains must be in Dutch. In Wallonia, this must all be in French. But once the train crosses into Brussels, conductors may switch to bilingual announcements in French and Dutch.
In Brussels the situation is even more complex and the order of the languages depends on the conductor's native tongue: if the train conductor is a native French speaker, the announcements must first be made in French, and vice versa.
SNCB train. Credit: Belga
One notable exception exists for trains heading to Brussels Airport, where announcements can be made in four languages: Dutch, French, English, and German, regardless of the train's location in Belgium.
SNCB confirmed that it will not take legal action against Alba. "We ask every train conductor to be flexible and adaptable in dealing with this language legislation so that they can focus on their important job as train conductors. That is what Alba has done."
In the meantime, outgoing Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) has joined the SNCB in advocating for more flexible language rules. He has criticised the "rigid enforcement often pushed by right-wing Flemish parties such as Vlaams Belang and N-VA", which he says makes no longer sense in today's context.
