Changes will only be applicable during the week. During the weekends, the usual schedule will take place. The impacted lines are detailed on the company’s website. The measure only concerns the Flemish periphery of Brussels.

After the Christmas holidays, the schedule will be restored. In fact, De Lijn expects to have enough bus drivers at that time.

Other regions in Flanders have experienced a shortage of staff, but recruitment efforts have already paid off, says De Lijn. The company points out that measures have been taken to increase the reliability of the service on the rest of the network. It also specifies that rush hours and school trips will be spared.

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This weekend (1st, 2nd, and 3rd of November), the North-South junction will be inaccessible from the South due to the works of modernization of the signaling of Brussels-Midi, operated by Infrabel. The works will have an impact on the rail traffic, warns a release of SNCB Wednesday. The same scenario will happen again on the weekend of 9, 10 and 11 November. SNCB warns that the train offer will already be impacted on Thursday 31 October and Friday 8 November in the evening.

Most trains will not run to and from Brussels-Midi, so an alternative transport plan has been developed to limit the impact on travelers. The majority of the trains that cross Hal, Bruxelles-Midi, Brussels-Central or Brussels-North will be adapted: most of them will be diverted via other Brussels stations. Connections by train to Brussels-Midi will be planned from Schaerbeek, Brussels-Luxembourg and Brussels-North. It will still be possible to travel within the junction between Brussels-North and Brussels-Midi, with 6 trains per hour in each direction.

Trains from the provinces of Liège, Luxembourg and Namur will bypass the Brussels junction via Schaerbeek and some trains will run to Brussels North. Trains from Charleroi, Mons, Tournai, Braine-le-Comte, Binche and La Louvière will not stop at the stations of the Brussels junction. Some trains will stop in Halle where an alternative SNCB bus service is planned between Halle and Bruxelles-Midi, other trains will stop in other Brussels stations (among others Brussels-Luxembourg) where travelers can make a connection by train to the stations of the junction.

Travelers heading to the coast from Brussels will be invited to take a train to Schaerbeek where it will be possible to make a connection to the coast. The travel planner will be available on the SNCB website and app.

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The average tariff adjustment (+ 1.53%) of the standard ticket and the weekend ticket remains below the health index (+ 1.87% in the reference period June 2018 June 2019).

The price adjustment for home-work subscriptions and school subscriptions is 2.87%.

Subscription products, such as the Campus card, experience the same rate adjustment. The average tariff adjustment for all other products, excluding subscriptions, amounts to 1.87%, linked to the health index.

The price of leisure products for young people (Go Pass 1, Go Pass 10 and Go Unlimited: free trips for young people up to 26 years), as well as the price of the Rail Pass (free trips), remains unchanged.

The prices of the Key Card (for short distances in a given area) and the Senior Note increase respectively by EUR 0.30 and EUR 0.20 per way. Seniors will now be able to use their senior ticket every weekend in July and August (including August 15): the current restriction is lifted.

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The solution is called Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and consists of dedicated central lanes for buses serving regular routes. Passengers board the bus through a metro-like station and these fast buses swiftly take the to their destination. By integrating this transport mode with existing rail services and strengthening the first and last mile options to better connect BRT stations, Transjakarta has managed to decrease the congestion levels by 8% according to the TomTom Traffic Index. 

With 260 BRT station spread in 13 corridors and the world’s longest route (251 km), Transjakarta now moves close to 1 million people each day out of the 20 million inhabitants in the city and suburbs. This represents a 4-fold increase in the past 5 years, and the system is accessible (BRT station <500 m) to 77% of the population, with the aim to reach 95% in the next few years. 

But just how did Transjakarta achieve this impressive turnaround in one of the world’s most congested cities? Firstly, by planning and integrating with existing transport such as metro and light rail. Another important measure is the gradual integration of independent cooperative owned minibuses for the first and last miles – and upgrading them to higher quality and comfort standards. The third measure to highlight is the affordability of Transjakarta’s system, with a single ticket costing around 0.3 cents and a 3-hour ticket around 0.50 cents. To encourage the use of modern minibuses they are free of charge. And of course, there is only 1 transport card for all the system. 

What is next for Transjakarta?

After their participation in the International Bus Conference in Brussels, Transjakarta’s CEO, Dr Agung Wicaksono and his team are touring Europe to get to know potential suppliers for their plan of electrifying their bus network. Most buses in the Transjakarta fleet are European, but so far, they are testing 3 Chinese manufactured electric buses. Doubts remain around the performance of European manufactured electric buses’ performance in Indonesia’s tropical climate, which is why Transjakarta’s team is visiting European manufacturers, emphasising that they are first and foremost looking for quality and sustainable vehicles.

Transjakarta’s success in gradually solving a megapolis’ transport crisis highlights the importance of integration of different transport modes, of concertation between authorities and of improving the convenience, efficiency and affordability of public transport. Brussels should heed the lessons learned by these public transport giants and emulate their ambition in solving mobility challenges.

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The renovations are taking place in order to make the area more more accessible and safer for both drivers and passengers.

The works should last about three months. This will cause some deviations for the regular bus lines.

During these works, buses that normally stop at platform 9 will stop at platform 8. Later platform 1 will also be affected.

Lines that stop at platform 9

• Line 250 (Brussels – Londerzeel – Liezele – Puurs)
• Line 251 (Brussels – Malderen)
• Line 260 (Brussels – Puurs)
• Line 460 (Brussels – Boom)
• Line 461 (Brussels – Boom)

Moreover, the passage for pedestrians, via the platform towards Rogier, is temporarily not accessible. An alternative is provided along the site zone.

#VlaamsBrabant #BrusselNoord #Werken Vanaf 22/10 voeren we werken uit aan de bushaltes van Brussel-Noord om deze eenvoudiger en overzichtelijker te maken. Ook de veiligheid en het wachtcomfort worden verbeterd

Meer info: https://t.co/7dxPgBhgsd#DeLijn pic.twitter.com/1vf7k4qS8I

— De Lijn (@delijn) October 21, 2019

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This weekend, 19 and 20 of October, the metro line 5 will be interrupted. The disruption is due to the replacement of several track switches and the adaptation of some platforms. During the interruption, also some works on the platforms of the Ceria-Coovi metro station will be carried out.

STIB has announced that an M-bus will replace the metro line between the stations Veeweide/Veeweyde and Erasmus/Erasme. Also, bus 75 will be diverted between the stops Van Beethoven and Bizet via Veeweide/Veeweyde in order to connect to metro 5 in direction Hermann-Debroux.

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ÖBB, the Austrian railway company, announced on their social networks that they will offer a night train between Vienna and Brussels in January 2020.

The specific details in terms of price and frequency have not yet been announced.

Similar night trains are already offered by this railway company such as to Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

Bienvenue Bruxelles!
Welkom Brussel!
Willkommen Brüssel! pic.twitter.com/aXa4mbORYR

— ÖBB (@unsereOEBB) October 5, 2019

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At the beginning of the year, the Stib announced that it planned to employ more than 800 people, of which 500 new drivers. Already, 700 have been engaged in 2019 and the company said that « By the end of the year, the Stib still wants to recruit about fifty drivers, including 30 bus drivers ».

To recruit new personnel, the transport company launched an app, Simbus, which allows you to put yourself in the shoes of a driver and navigate three existing bus routes. « Users who register a good score are invited to take a quick look at jobs.stib.be, » says Johan Claes, manager at Stib.

The post Stib launches Simbus, a bus driving simulator to recruit new personnel appeared first on Brussels Express.

From today, the municipality of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre will implement bicycle couriers three times a week to receive and deliver the official mail of the municipality. The couriers will deliver important administrative documents necessary for the proper functioning of a municipality such as planning permissions, budget documents, documents addressed to municipal councilors etc.

The socially responsible eco-cooperative Molenbike will take care of the business. A trial period of three months is planned, in order to ensure that the couriers will be able to deliver all the official documents in time.

So far, all the official documents were deposited by car. Thus, the municipality has taken this measure in order to reduce the impact on air quality and mobility in Brussels.

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Earlier in the year it had announced the new routes that will be offered starting Winter 2019-20. The new routes from Brussels Airport are Catania (Sicily in Italy), Essaouira (Morocco), Kraków (Poland), Pisa (Italy) and Seville (Spain).

From Brussels Airport:

• 5 new routes to Catania (2 per week)
• Essaouira (2 per week)
• Krakow (4 per week)
• Pisa (3 per week)
• Seville (4 per week)

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