The railways are kicking off a major strike movement in Belgium. " Due to a union strike against certain measures included in the government agreement, fewer trains will run from Sunday 23 November (10pm) to Wednesday 26 November inclusive (last train). "warns the national railway company SNCB. To alleviate these difficulties, the rail carrier has introduced an alternative service on 24 and 25 November, with one IC train in two for lines linking the major Belgian cities, and one train in three for lines L and S". On the other hand, there are still very few trains available at peak times. "warns the SNCB. In addition, few P trains will be running.
At the same time, urban transport will also be affected by this protest movement against the reforms proposed by the Bart de Wever government to rectify public finances, with crèches, hospitals and public services expected to join the movement on Tuesday 25 November. For trams and metros in Brussels, the STIB is predicting major disruptions throughout the day on Monday 24 November, while regional operators De Lijn and TEC are expected to experience significant service cuts throughout Flanders and Wallonia.
International traffic will also be affected between now and 26 November. On Eurostar lines, all trains between Brussels, Lille and London should be running. However, many Eurostars linking Paris to Brussels and further afield to Amsterdam or Cologne have been cancelled. the company website. In addition, not all stops in Germany will be served, with services limited to Cologne, with no extension to Düsseldorf and Dortmund, or even just to Brussels. It should be noted that some TGVs linking Brussels Midi with several French cities such as Nantes, Montpellier or Strasbourg will not run or will have Lille as their departure point or terminus.
To Germany, SNCB says that all ICE trains will run on the Brussels-Cologne-Frankfurt route. However, they will be diverted from their usual route and will depart around 20 minutes earlier from Bruxelles-Midi, Bruxelles-Nord and Liège-Guillemins. For traffic to the Netherlands, 6 out of 16 EuroCity Direct trains will run in each direction between Brussels and Amsterdam over the three days. However, they will be diverted via Roosendaal, which will mean adapted timetables and longer journey times. The same applies to EuroCity trains between Brussels and Rotterdam, with 11 out of 16 trains on 24 November, and 9 out of 16 trains on 25 and 26 November.
While rail traffic in Belgium will be severely disrupted over the next three days, air traffic will only be affected on Wednesday 26 November. But not by much, as all departures from Brussels and Charleroi airports will be cancelled on Wednesday 26 November due to the participation of staff from the security and assistance services provider in the strike. " Following the cancellation of departing flights, cancellations may also occur on certain arriving flights.warns Brussels Airport. Over the next few days, the airlines will be informing passengers directly of their options. "These options are undoubtedly limited given the difficulties announced.
