Belgian rail traffic will be disrupted during this week, as two separate strike actions will take place in the coming days as rail unions will form a common front and strike on Monday to Thursday night, while conductors have called for another 48-hour strike from Wednesday to Friday.
Just like the last strike, the majority of Belgian rail unions will go on a 24-hour strike from 22:00 on Monday until Tuesday night. The unions are protesting against the Federal Government's 'insufficient' funding of SNCB and Infrabel.
In addition, the ASTB/SACT union that represents train conductors is also planning their own 48-hour strike from Wednesday 30 November until Friday 2 December, as they condemn the lack of safety and deteriorating conditions for their workers.
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SNCB has announced that an alternative service will be set up from Monday to Tuesday to deal with the railway disruptions, with plans currently also being discussed for the conductors' strike.
When being interviewed on LN24, Federal Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) pushed back against the strikers' claims that the government had been underfunding and mismanaging railway infrastructure and personnel.
Translation of tweet: "As Minister for Mobility, I sorely lament this strike. To say that we have no ambition for the railways is wrong. I also have to deal with the lack of vision of the past."
