Public transport
6,081 trains were canceled in January. That is one train in seventeen: the highest number in at least four years.
In 2023, train punctuality reached a five-year low. And for the time being, 2024 will not bring any improvement: 6,081 trains were completely or partially canceled in January, good for one in seventeen trains. Twice as many as in January 2023 and the highest number since at least 2020. This is evident from Infrabel figures.
Canceled trains are not added to the punctuality figures. They also declined. Infrabel and NMBS point to the winter weather as the culprit. “The snow on January 17, 18 and 19 caused punctuality to drop by 2.1 percentage points,” it said. “Without those three days, the punctuality was 88.9 percent.” That would be comparable to the punctuality of 89 percent in January 2023.
No pragmatics
“It is dramatic,” responds Peter Meukens, chairman of the Treintrambus travelers association. “The cancellations and delays don’t seem to be improving, and the traveler is screwed. They are often in serious trouble.”
Meukens does not see any change in the near future: “It is getting completely out of hand. They fail to handle things pragmatically. I take the Hasselt-Antwerp train every day. It enters Hasselt at 7.17 am. At 7.30 am they connect an extra train set. And the train has to leave at 7.41. It does not work. There is invariably a delay. If that connection had been better prepared, that would not have been the case. The constant track changes also cause misery, while this can be better arranged through dispatching.”
‘Third parties’
About half of the delays and canceled trains were due to NMBS, which is responsible for the trains. This also includes the category of ‘third parties’, which, in addition to track runners and accidents at level crossings, also includes the weather. Between 15 and 50 percent of the delays and cancellations were due to Infrabel, which is responsible for the rail infrastructure.
The rail companies acknowledge that technical problems lead to problems, but also point to the busy rail network, which means there is less margin to respond to incidents or force majeure. “The priority for the rest of the year is to increase punctuality again,” both said.
