Strike to disrupt rail travel from Saturday
About six out of ten trains will run on Saturday, the first day of a nine-day rail strike, the Belgian rail company has announced. Disruption will be more severe on subsequent working days, the company warned.
The strike is an initiative of two smaller rail unions, OVS and ASTB, and will start on Friday at 22:00 and run until Sunday 2 March at 22:00. The unions are striking in protest at a number of plans by the new federal government, including an increase in the retirement age.
The strike's impact may vary from day to day. The railway company NMBS will draw up an alternative timetable for each day. "On Saturday 22 February, three out of five IC trains and three out of five L and S trains will run," NMBS said on Thursday.
'Irresponsible and disproportionate'
The rail company also warns that the impact "will be greater during the week than at the weekend". Travellers can check which trains are running a day before their journey using the travel planner. Assistance for passengers with reduced mobility will continue to be available.
The NMBS, railway operator Infrabel and HR Rail, the legal employer of railway staff, repeated that they consider the strike to be "totally unacceptable, irresponsible and disproportionate". They regret the consequences for the 900,000 passengers transported every day.
The largest railway unions, ACOD Spoor and ACV-Transcom, are also planning strikes. They will take part in the general strike on 31 March and are discussing "a series of actions and rotating strikes starting in March, with several dates per month, until July".
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