The Belgian rail company NMBS has announced changes to its fares structure that will make it cheaper to travel off-peak during the week and at weekends. Those that regularly travel by train will also benefit from cheaper rail travel. The new fares structure only applies to single journey, return at 10 journey tickets. For season tickets the current method of calculating the price will remain except for distances above 120km.
The new fares structure was given the go-ahead by NMBS’ board of directors on Friday morning. The rail company hopes that the changes will help it reach its aim of a 30% increase in passenger numbers by 2032.
The new fares structure
Teenagers and young adults (12 to 26), people aged 65 and older and those that are entitled to a fare reduction for whatever reason will enjoy a 40% reduction on the standard fare all the time, including during rush hour.
A rail card system will be introduced for these group. The card, costing 4 euro/month will be personal to the holder. Those that have a rail card will benefit from a further reduction of 40% in the price of tickets purchased for off-peak travel during the week or travel at any time during the weekend or on public holidays. A maximum fare of 5.5 euro per single will also be set for rail card holders regardless of what time they travel.
Those travelling in groups of 4 or more will benefit from a fare cut. This will be 40% for off-peak and weekend travel.
The fares charged for long distance travel will be reduced.
Adults between the ages of 26 and 65 will be able to purchase the new 'Weekend Ticket' that gives a 30% reduction on the standard fare for single journey tickets. Currently the Weekend Ticket only applies to return tickets.
Once the new fare structure comes into force long distance travel will become cheaper. Currently, NMBS’ most expensive fare is calculated based on a person travelling 150km, roughly the distance from Ostend to Leuven or from Liège to Ghent. However, soon passengers will only pay for the first 120km of their journey. This means that the price of the most expensive single journey tickets in 2nd class will fall from 26 euro to 20.90 for adults between the age of 26 and 65. From the start of next year, a ceiling of 120km will be used when calculation the price of season tickets from long distance commuters.