Bart Tommelein refuses extra trains to Ostend after surviv …

To avoid a repeat of the chaos at Ostend station last Friday, Monday was a meeting between the Ostend mayor Bart Tommelein (Open VLD) and the NMBS. According to Tommelein, that turned out to be a waste, and he refuses extra trains until a plan is on the table.

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‘As a city, we have our reservations and we have many questions after Friday,’ Bart Tommelein writes in a press release shortly after the consultation with Acting Governor of West Flanders Anne Martens and the SNCB summit. Then hundreds of packed travelers were waiting in Ostend station to go home. With the hot weather approaching, the NMBS is again planning additional trains towards the coast, but Tommelein refuses to allow them.

Tommelein criticizes the lack of a clear plan. “A safe and robust plan is needed before additional trains can be deployed to Ostend again,” he says. “I will therefore no longer allow additional trains until that plan is made. That is irresponsible and I do not want to take that responsibility as mayor. “

He asks the railways to set up a registration system instead, so that no more people can get on the train than allowed under the current corona rules. ‘That way you know perfectly well who is on the train and you cannot just take any train to return home. People will have to keep to the hour for which they have reserved, ‘says the mayor. But according to the railway company, such a system is not feasible in the short term. It is being examined how the passenger flows can be optimally organized.

According to the mayor, the NMBS will work on a plan and make a site visit, together with the security services and the police. An app that tells the traveler how busy it is on certain trains will not be ready until September.

Consultations will continue, while large digital real-time information screens will be deployed outside the station. “And we will communicate about the crowds via social media,” said SNCB spokesman Dimitri Temmerman. Despite Tommelein’s resistance, the NMBS is sticking to the extra trains towards the coast. “Given the additional train travelers expected in good weather, SNCB is adjusting its offer to be able to transport the passengers in the best sanitary conditions,” the company said.

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