Search form

menu menu
  • Daily & Weekly newsletters
  • Buy & download The Bulletin
  • Comment on our articles

SNCB to reduce booking time for travellers with disabilities

00:05 04/09/2015

From 2016, Belgian railway company SNCB wants to make it easier for people with reduced mobility to request personal assistance in the major stations. Under the current system, rail passengers with a disability are required to book 24 hours in advance, but the rail operator is investigating the possibility of reducing the booking time to only three hours for direct connections between 18 stations, SNCB announced Thursday in a press release.

SNCB points out that the Belgian requirement of 24 hours is better than the European requirement of 48 hours. The organisations representing disabled persons in Belgium, however, are still critical of the 24-hour rule, as it does not allow for people with reduced mobility to safely take the train on little notice.

Meanwhile, SNCB has identified 18 major stations across Belgium that would be able to provide assistance with reservation at least three hours in advance. The stations are: Antwerp Central, Bruges, Brussels Central, Brussels North, Brussels Midi, Denderleeuw, Dendermonde, Ghent Sint-Pieters, Hasselt, Kortrijk, Leuven, Mechelen, Ostend, Sint-Niklaas, Charleroi South, Liège -Guillemins, Mons and Namur.

Personal assistance with three hours notice would only be provided for direct connections between the stations involved. According to SNCB, two-thirds of the passengers who regularly request assistance would benefit from the reduced reservation time.

Written by Robyn Boyle