From Noorderkempen station to the Ghent-Lokeren connection: NMBS rolls out first phase expansion of train offering

The new transport plan applies to the period December 2023 to December 2026 and should increase the number of train kilometers traveled by 7.4 percent during that period. By the end of the period, 2,000 more trains should be running every week.

The first, more limited, adjustments will take place today, December 10. The kilometers traveled will increase by 1.3 percent in the first phase, NMBS announced in October.

The first expansion is especially noticeable in Wallonia, where Charleroi airport is being made more accessible via the renovated Fleurus station. From now on, an IC train will run seven times a week in both directions between Leuven, Fleurus and Charleroi-Central. That train also stops in Heverlee, Waver and Ottignies.

Prune elsewhere

What is new in Flanders is that the Noorderkempen station will receive a second train per hour to and from Antwerp Central all day on weekdays. Now the second train only runs during the morning and evening rush hours. The S53 train between Ghent and Lokeren is also running again, on weekdays the route has been extended to Oudenaarde.

Those S53 suburban trains have not been running for some time due to staff shortages. Three S53 trains will still not run in the new timetable, because there are not enough tracks available due to works at the Gent-Sint-Pieters station. As a replacement, the IC train between Antwerp Central and De Panne will exceptionally stop in Beervelde when there is no S53 train.

The staff shortages have not been eliminated, because NMBS is instead cutting back on supply elsewhere. Some P trains around Geraardsbergen, Ghent and Oudenaarde will temporarily not run from December. The S32 between Puurs, Antwerp Central and Essen will also run less often than planned.