SNCB plans more trains, shorter journeys

The arrival of a new CEO has brought with it a pledge from national rail authority SNCB: more trains and shorter journey times. The promise was made by Sophie Dutordoir, less than a week after taking over from former CEO Jo Cornu.

The changes, she said, will include more trains at the weekend, with the busiest lines delivering trains at least once an hour. Also, in the interest of students, extra trains will be scheduled for Sunday evenings to allow them to get back to school from home.

Many late trains, which were scrapped in the 2014 plan because of low passenger numbers, will be reinstated. At the time the trains were scrapped from the schedule, the SNCB argued that there were two few passengers, but detractors argued that those who did need them needed them badly.

Missing from the new plan, however, are other changes requested by rail users. The Antwerp-Hasselt connection scrapped in 2014 will not be reinstated. Similarly, a cross-border connection between Ostend and Aachen still requires a transfer, as does Ostend-Brussels-Maastricht.

Dutordoir’s plan aims to cut journey times by an average of 3%, which in the best cases could save passengers 10 minutes spent in the train. The 2014 plan extended journey times to take account of large-scale infrastructure works – and also to improve a problematic punctuality record.

“A large part of those works are completed, and there is now room to reduce journey times,” a spokesperson said.

“The glass is 60% full, let us say,” responded Jan Van Severen of public transport user group TreinTramBus. “There is good news and bad news, but things will be better for most users in general.”

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