Belgian railway company SNCB has seen the highest number of travellers since the pandemic began, according to a press release.
“After a long period of hovering around half the usual passenger numbers, the number of passengers has risen again to over 70 percent in recent weeks,” the company announced.
“Last week, compared to the same period in 2019, the average number of passengers was 79 percent. This is the highest level since the crisis began.”
As the frequency of overall travel increases once again, more and more people are returning to trains.
Back in March of 2020 when the crisis began, SNCB created a National Interest Train Service in order to keep the trains running, even when passenger numbers dropped to as low as ten percent due to a ban on non-essential travel.
“Extra efforts were made to ensure health safety on trains and in stations and maximum train capacity was quickly restored,” SNCB said.
In the first half of this year, 78 percent of passengers reported that they were satisfied with SNCB’s service.
In an effort to highlight the importance of trains for mobility in Belgium, SNCB is launching a new campaign with the slogan: “En route. Vers mieux,” or “On the way. Towards better.”
