Chaotic start to the year for rail travel Belgium. Le February 13, a vast movement of strike forced the authorities to close airspace, effectively paralysing all the country's airports. As of this Friday eveningThe rail sector will also be disrupted by social unrest, in the wake of a major demonstration planned for the day in Brussels. This demonstration will also affect public transport in the capital.
Rail strike begins at 10pm this Friday called by the SIC and SACT unions. It is due to last until 2 March evening (10pm). All the country's business destinations will be affected, not only for rail travel but also for public transport.
La SNCB hopes to be able to put in place an alternative service: "Depending on the presence of staff, we will work out an alternative train service to get you to your destination". However, the railway company points out that the impact of the strike will vary from day to day - and will be greater during the week than at weekends. For Saturday 22 February, for example, SNCB is planning to run 3 IC trains out of 5, and 3 S and L trains out of 5.
International trains spared
The disruption is expected to be limited to the domestic network, with a few exceptions. SNCB states: "For international trains (Eurostar, TGV INOUI, OUIGO etc.), there are no known repercussions to date, with the following exceptions: from 22/2 to 2/3 inclusive, the Eurocity Direct (Brussels-Amsterdam) will only run between Rotterdam and Lelystad without serving Belgium. EuroCity (Brussels-Rotterdam): from 22/2 to 2/3 inclusive, 12 out of 16 trains will run in each direction between Brussels and Rotterdam.
SNCB strongly condemns the strike action and its consequences: "SNCB, Infrabel and HR Rail consider these actions unacceptable, irresponsible and out of proportion. They deplore the consequences for 900,000 passengers carried every day ".
