The Federal Government and Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) emphasize that this is an ambitious and important plan. “Today we are putting the train to tomorrow on the track. For the very first time, our rail companies, but also all stakeholders, now have a long-term vision and a step-by-step plan, with the aim of offering the customer an optimal offer,” says Gilkinet. “A first in railway history”, it sounds.
But what exactly is in the plan? These are some of the points of attention and ambitions that the government is putting forward:
- a train every 15 minutes around major cities
- a train every half hour on the rest of the rail network
- an integrated timetable
- accessible stations and trains, with, for example, even more parking spaces for bicycles and cars
- an “attractive pricing policy that convinces people”
- better traveler information
- introduce more night and high-speed trains and a train service connecting the European capitals “from Brussels as a natural rail hub”, in order to better compete with the plane
- for freight transport, more account is taken of the needs of companies using rail
- making the railways even more sustainable by going for 100 percent green energy and paying more attention to the environment and biodiversity in the day-to-day functioning of the companies. The railway companies must “take an exemplary role” in this regard.
- the Belgian rail network is being prepared for the liberalization that Europe puts first
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