De Lijn to reduce services from January due to staff shortages

Flemish public transport company De Lijn will have to reduce its services in several areas from 6 January 2025, due to a shortage of drivers and rolling stock, its director Ann Schoubs has announced.

In September, De Lijn was faced with a 2.4% shortage of drivers. The areas most affected by the problem were the Vlaamse Rand - the Brussels periphery in Flanders - the Antwerp region and Leuven. From January onwards, De Lijn estimates that it will be 150 drivers short of its initial capacity.

The company is also facing problems due to its ageing rolling stock. Buses are on average more than 10 years old and there are delays in the delivery of new vehicles. The overall service level will therefore have to be reduced by 2.5%.

However, De Lijn has assured its passengers that it will do everything to mitigate the impact of this situation on passengers. The reduction in capacity will mainly concern journeys at weekends and late in the evening, or those for which alternative solutions exist.

On a more positive note, the Flemish bus company has also announced that, at weekends from 23 November and every day from 18-29 December, public transport will be free during "restricted traffic" days in Bruges, to coincide with the beautiful city’s Christmas market which ends, like the one in the capital, on 5 January.