SNCB rescues some early and late trains after protests

Following public protest, the national rail authority SNCB has reconsidered its new train timetable, which will come into force in December. The authority has reinstated a number of early and late trains it was planning to scrap. Meanwhile, rail unions could be reconsidering their plans for a national rail strike next Monday.

The chair of the socialist union ACOD, Jean Pierre Goossens, met with NMBS management yesterday. “It seems to be going in the right direction,” he told VRT News. The two sides are discussing the union’s complaint of “inertia” in filling job vacancies, which cuts costs but increases pressure on the existing workforce. Talks continue today, when unions and management will discuss the implementation of the new timetable.

One of the main complaints from train users about the new timetable was the scrapping of early and late trains, which the SNCB said have a low occupancy rate and are not economical. Users responded that they also provide a social function in offering a service to those who need it most, such as shift workers with no alternative transport options.

Complaints also came from Brussels’ arts sector, with theatres and concert venues seriously concerned about attracting fewer patrons if there was no train after midnight to get them home.

The new timetable is the first major reorganisation in 16 years and leaves nothing untouched. Not one train currently running will be on the same schedule after December. Every train using the Brussels North-South tunnel link, for instance, will take two minutes longer over that stretch of track in an effort to ease congestion. The new schedule will be available for the public to check by next month, and the final version will be approved in August.