Since transport company De Lijn changed its timetables at the beginning of this year, Flemish Ombudswoman Myriam Parys has received more than 500 complaints about the service provided by the public local transport company. That's more than in the whole of last year. Most complaints are about buses arriving late or not at all. According to De Lijn, most of its fleet of buses is antiquated and the vehicles break down regularly as a result.
Ombud service has already received more complaints about De Lijn than in the whole of 2023
Colin Clapson
Published:
Complaints about De Lijn services are traditionally more frequent at the start of a new school year. That’s when many young people are taking the bus to school. ‘Since the start of the school year, every day I see children waiting in vain for the bus at the bus stop. Laakdal is really badly affected by the new timetable. Very often the bus does not show up,’ local resident Stein Voet told VRT.
‘At the beginning of every school year, we receive complaints from parents whose children are left standing at the bus stop because the bus does not show up,’ agrees Flemish Ombudswoman Myriam Parys. ‘School is only two weeks old, and the bus has already been late 5 times,’ is a typical complaint. This year is no different.’
Since the introduction of the new timetable on 6 January 2024, the Flemish Ombudswoman has already received more than 500 complaints about De Lijn. ‘That's more than the 477 complaints in the whole of 2023.’
Buses are too old, drivers too few in number
As many as half of all complaints are about poor service: buses being late or cancelled. ‘We also get complaints about buses failing to stop because they are already completely full. That's a capacity problem.’
De Lijn admits that since the beginning of this year it has received ‘a significant number’ of complaints from passengers. About 12,000 complaints about the new timetable arrived in January 2024 alone. ‘That number had dropped to 5,000 complaints by June, though,’ spokesman Frederik Wittock noted.
‘Probably because people had gradually got used to the new timetable. But to be clear: we want to apologise for any bus journey that cannot go ahead. People are entitled to the journey they would like to take. We also prioritise school runs.’
Antiquated fleet and driver shortage
According to the transport company, there are 2 main reasons for the problems. ‘We have a very outdated bus fleet. Two thirds of our vehicles are 10 years old or older while the average age of a bus should only be 7 years. Our technical teams do everything they can to keep the vehicles running, but they often break down because they are simply too old. As a result, we sometimes have to cancel services.’
An additional problem is the shortage of staff. ‘We have too few drivers. We are trying to recruit new colleagues via all kinds of channels, but that is not proving easy. Moreover, our drivers are getting older and older.’