Public transport fares go up on Saturday

Travellers should expect to pay a bit more on public transport starting this weekend. From 1 February, several of the country’s new laws and regulations will change.

In Brussels, the cost of a ticket for one trip on public transport is going up from €2 to €2.10; for five trips from €7.70 to €8 and for 10 trips from €13.50 to €14. Users of the Mobib card also pay more: from €1.90 to €2 for one trip and from €12 to €12.50 for 10.

Brussels’ monthly pass goes up from €47.50 to €49, but the price of the annual pass remains unchanged, as do passes for students, seniors and those on benefits. The cost of fare dodging also increases by 5%, to €105 for a first offence and €210 thereafter. 

Flanders’ public transport authority De Lijn is also increasing fares. Longer trips made with the Lijnkaart increase to €1.90. The Buzzy Pass for under-25s will see a slight increase, while the Omnipas for over-25s goes up by €12 to €249 a year, by €5 to €91 for the quarterly pass and by €1.50 to €32 for one month. The price of single tickets remains unchanged.

Train tickets will also become more expensive, by an average of 1.44% – less than the cost of living increase and the increase in the working costs of the NMBS, the rail authority said. Changes affect standard tickets, the Go Pass 10 for young people and the Diabolo supplement for travel to and from Brussels Airport.

You’ll also see a change in the price of beer. AB InBev brews will go up by 1.5 cents a glass for pils, and a slightly higher increase for the specialty beers, including Leffe and Hoegaarden. Two weeks later on 15 February, the country’s second-largest brewer Alken-Maes, owned by Heineken, also increases its prices by 1.5 cents for pils and slightly more for specialty beers, like Grimbergen and Affligem.

Mobile phone operators are now obliged to warn clients at no cost whenever the number of minutes, text messages or data limits within their subscription package are about to be exceeded.

Holders of a provisional driving licence may no longer transport passengers other than the qualified driver accompanying them, who must be named on the licence. And learner drivers who fail the practical test twice in a row must take six hours of lessons with an authorised driving school before taking the test again.