At on Tuesday night, a hour joint railway union strike on Belgium's railways started, leading to disrupted train traffic across the country over the coming two days. As part of a double two-day strike already announced in October, railway staff will strike from on Tuesday 7 November until on Thursday 9 November. A second strike will follow next month, from 5 to 7 December. On Tuesday, it will become clear which trains are running on Wednesday.
Then on Wednesday, the schedule for Thursday will be updated, Crols explained. Depending on the staff available to work, disruption may be greater in some provinces than others. That is the difference with previous strikes when it was often only clear in the morning which trains were running and which were not," he said. That way, we try to provide as much transparency as possible to passengers.
On both strike days, about half of the IC trains connections between larger cities and two in five of the other trains will run, according to SNCB's website. Most P trains, known as peak-hour trains, will not run. Which exact trains will not run on Wednesday can currently already be checked on SNCB's website or app.
For Thursday, more detailed information will be made available on Wednesday. For most trains that do not run, an alternative route with a possible transfer has been made possible. For example, no direct IC trains will run between Turnhout and Antwerp, but passengers from Turnhout can still get to Antwerp via a transfer in Mechelen.
Travellers are advised to plan their journey on the day of departure. The only two routes where no alternative route has been found are between Aalst and Burst and between Hasselt and Mol. Travellers who arrive late at work or school due to the strike can download a hindrance certificate on the SNCB website , which will be available until seven days after the strike.
