Rail traffic paralysed by 24-hour strike

Rail traffic is nearly completely paralysed across the country, after the socialist rail trade union CGSP/ACOD followed through on their earlier call for a 24-hour strike, starting at 22.00 on Sunday. The union is protesting against shortage of staff and SNCB/NMBS’ lengthy recruitment procedures.

Only a few local services are running normally and SNCB is recommending that travellers seek “alternative solutions”.

Thalys and Eurostar announced that timetables will be modified and some trains may be cancelled. All tickets for travel on 30 June are refundable or exchangeable.

In Wallonia, trains are running between Bertrix and Dinant and between Bertrix and Libramont. In Flanders, trains are still running between Ghent and Leuven, but are not stopping in Brussels, and between Lierse and Hasselt.

“Elsewhere, everything is blocked. The signalboxes are either closed or occupied by strikers,” said SNCB spokesperson Nathalie Pierard.

Anyone intending to travel today is advised to consult the real time updates available on www.sncb.be, the SNCB app, or SNCB’s twitter account @SNCB. Thalys and Eurostar passengers are advised to consult www.b-europe.com or follow the @SNCBEurope twitter account.