Public transport fares rise across Belgium

Fares for Belgian public transport operators SNCB, TEC, STIB and De Lijn have all risen this month in line with the consumer price index.

For railway company SNCB, fares for send class tickets (Standard, Senior and Youth) increased by 2.91%. Season tickets (Standard, Flex, Half-time and Student) rose by 3.03%.

Non-regulated fares (such as Weekend, Local Multi, Youth Multi and Standard Multi tickets) and SNCB car park fares were also indexed by 2.91%. Non-regulated intermodal season tickets (City Pass and the Unlimited season ticket) rose by +3.03%.

The ‘Youth Holidays’ subscription is now €39, up from €35, while the weekly version rose by €1 to €19.

Walloon transit company TEC also adopted the indexation, spreading it across all fares with the exception of group fares and the €12 annual season tickets for 18-24 year olds and the over-65s, whose fares will remain unchanged.

The price of a Next journey rose from €2.10 to €2.20, and an Express journey will now cost €5.10 instead of €5. The price of a one-month Next season ticket rose from €37.10 to €38.20 for full-fare 25 to 64 year-olds. The one-year Next season ticket for the same age group increased from €323 to €332.30.

Brussels transport operator Stib implemented an average increase of almost 5%, on top of some increases that already went into effect last September following a 10-year price freeze.

A one-trip ticket, which cost €2.10 at the start of 2024 and €2.20 since September, rose to €2.30. The one-day ticket rose from €8 to €8.40.

Brupass products - for travel on all public transport networks within the Brussels region - saw a smaller increase of between 1.5% and 3.8%: the one-trip ticket rose from €2.60 to €2.70, and the one-day ticket is now €9.50, compared with €9.10 previously.

Season tickets are also affected by the fare increase. A month's travel on Brussels public transport now costs €55, compared with €52 euros, while the annual fare will rise from €520 to €550.

Flemish public transport operator De Lijn said it indexes prices for annual and quarterly season tickets each year. Currently, an Omnipas costs €49 for one month, €135 for three months and €351 for a year.

An ordinary ticket - valid for one hour - is €2.50, while a two-ride ticket is now €5. A 10-ticket package costs €17 (or €1.70 per ride) and a 50-ticket package is €75 (€1.50 per ride).