Unless a trial weekend goes wrong, trains will run to and from the coast this summer on which travelers can reserve their seats in advance. In this way, the NMBS hopes to prevent crowded platforms like last summer.
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The ‘Coastal Express’ will be the name of the trains that will run to and from the Belgian coast this summer and on which travelers must reserve a seat in advance. The first will be deployed on the weekend of 5 and 6 June, as part of a pilot project. Only if that leads to major problems could it still hold back the rollout of the system during the two summer months.
Initially, this involves twenty trains a day during the weekend: ten outward and ten back. On weekdays it will be twice four. They depart in the morning from Antwerp-Central, Brussels-South, Ghent-Sint-Pieters and Liège-Guillemins: four stations from which a large number of travelers depart for the coast. They drive from there without stops to their final destination: Blankenberge, De Panne, Knokke and Ostend, where they also leave in the evening.
On top of the classic offer
The announcement follows a summer in which NMBS was confronted with overcrowded platforms and trains heading for the coast. The company has come under a lot of criticism, including from the coastal mayors, because such gatherings during the epidemic are of course not safe. “The whole of society works by appointment, except the NMBS does not,” said Mayor of Ostend Bart Tommelein (Open VLD) in March, when the early spring weather also led to a large flood.
The NMBS repeatedly opposed the introduction of a reservation system, because it would not be in line with its ‘public service mission’, it would limit the flexibility of travelers and would also be ‘operationally impossible’. The NMBS maintains that position, says Marc Huybrechts, director of marketing & sales at the rail company. That is why reservation trains do not replace, but are in addition to, the usual train offer. They do, however, partly replace the ‘nice weather trains’, which the NMBS keeps on hand every summer to use in sunny weather. ‘Travelers will always have a choice between a train that stops at different stations and a train with reservation that runs directly.’
With this additional offer, SNCB hopes to be able to avoid repetitions of the scenarios of last summer and spring. ‘Thanks to the reservation trains, it is easier to anticipate and the passenger flows to the various coastal destinations can be better spread,’ says Huybrechts. ‘We also get an accurate picture of the number of passengers on the trains.’
No fixed seat
Since the reservation trains run directly, they are also faster. For example, if you want to travel from Antwerp Central to Blankenberge, you can reach your destination 19 minutes faster with the ‘Coastal Express’ than with an IC train. Those who want to travel from Brussels to De Panne will take 29 minutes less.
As of today, travelers can reserve tickets for the weekend of 5 and 6 June via the NMBS website. With a reservation there will be additional costs of one euro per person and per ride – also for those who ride for free. ‘If we didn’t charge anything for that, you risk people misusing the system,’ says Huybrechts. There is no fixed seat on the train associated with the reservation, it remains free to choose.
Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) says he has asked SNCB to use direct trains with reservation, “so that people are encouraged and can travel in the best conditions”.
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