Staff shortages and decaying railway infrastructure have led to a record number of train cancellations this year, De Tijd and l'Echo have reported.
According to data recently released by Infrabel, the government-owned company responsible for maintaining Belgium's railway network, more than 38,400 train journeys were cancelled this year, up from the previous record of 38,082 set in 2016.
The latest figures mean that, with the exception of 2020 when Covid-19 caused significant travel disruptions across Europe, train cancellations have increased every year since 2017 – when a mere 20,000 trains were cancelled.
De Tijd and l'Echo further noted that, with a monthly average of almost 3,500 train cancellations, Belgium's total number of cancellations this year could eventually end up exceeding 40,000.
Delays also increase
Train delays have also notably risen compared to last year. Throughout 2022, fewer than 90% of trains arrived within six minutes of their scheduled arrival time, with the number dropping to 85% for October and November.
The numbers are even more noteworthy for shorter delay times: approximately half of all Belgian trains between January and November this year were more than one minute late.
On average, trains in Belgium were three minutes late this year — more than double the average delay relative to the end of last year — with the figure rising to almost four minutes at Belgium's major stations in December.
The underlying factors
According to the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNBC) spokesman Bart Crols, staff shortages coupled with widespread absenteeism were the primary factors underlying the increase in train cancellations and delays this year.
SNBC bears significant responsibility for Belgian trains' overall poor performance this year: more than 40% of Belgian train cancellations in 2022 were SNBC trains — a significant increase on the company's average rate of one-third of all Belgian train cancellations.
Yet Crols was adamant that staffing issues are unlikely to affect the SNBC next year: "The planned hires have happened... and additional operational hires that are needed have also been largely found."
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Such an assessment appears to be overly optimistic: SNBC was allocated less than 25% of its requested funds in the Belgian Federal Government's most recent budget (it received €234 million after requesting €1 billion), which led to the company's Director, Sophie Dutordoir, announcing that SNBC will have to "postpone projects" and "reduce costs whenever possible".
Together with Infrabel, SNBC also recently promised to cut 2,000 jobs over the next ten years.
Funding constraints come at a time when Belgium's railway infrastructure is falling into ever greater disrepair. According to Infrabel, an estimated 700 kilometres of Belgium's railway tracks are in such poor condition that trains should not be permitted to run on them.
Moreover, a delay in the construction of some 200 new double-decker M7 trains has forced many Belgian railway operators to use ageing carriages, many of which are more than 50 years old and require frequent maintenance.
