No compensation for bus/tram users due to strikes

Public transport in Brussels was still feeling the effects of yesterday’s strike, as most trains arrived and left stations 10 to 20 minutes late this morning. Monday’s action, one in a series of provincial strikes leading up to the national strike next week, took place in Brussels, Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant.

Both Brussels’ transport authority MIVB and Flanders’ De Lijn were also at a standstill yesterday, as both announced that passengers who lose a day of use of their passes cannot apply for compensation.

The provincial strikes and the national strike next Monday ensure that most holders of transport passes will find themselves unable to use public transport twice in the month of December. However, the two authorities argue that the lack of service was not caused by them, but by the unions.

“In the past we gave out ‘sorry passes’, but that was when the strike originated within MIVB,” explained spokesperson An Van Hamme. A spokesperson for De Lijn agreed that the strike “fell outside of our responsibility”.

Rail authority NMBS, meanwhile, said that pass holders will be compensated on demand, providing their train was either 60 minutes late or failed to arrive at all. Anyone who bought a single ticket after the strike was announced, however, will receive no compensation.

In related news, the Brussels bike-hire system Villo! saw twice as many rentals during yesterday’s strike than on any normal Monday, though not as many as on November 6, when demonstrators took to the streets of the capital. “It looks as though people made other arrangements this time around,” commented a spokesperson.

The company warned, however, that services next Monday could be disrupted by strike action taken by Villo! staff themselves. The free smartphone app AllBikesNow can help find the best place to pick up and drop off a Villo! bike.

photo courtesy Jopparn/Wikimedia