Members of 5 trade unions that represent those that work on Belgium’s railways will begin a 24-hour strike from 10pm on Monday. During the industrial action that will end at 10pm on Tuesday the Belgian rail company NMBS will be operating a revised timetable. NMBS says that 60% of its intercity (IC) services will be running.
Passengers are adivised to check the NMBS website or the rail companies app before leaving for the station. The rail unions are preparing for what will be the 22nd day of strike action on Belgium’s railways since the start of the year. Initially only the socialist union ACOD Spoor (socialist) and the Christian trade union ACV Transcom (Christian) were going to take part in what is a series of strikes every Tuesday. However, they have since been joined by members of the liberal trade union VSOA and the independent OVS and ASTB unions. They have already taken strike action on 8 and 15 April and plan a further strike on Tuesday 29 April.
The rail company NMBS has once again drawn up an emergency timetable, using staff that have said that they won’t be joining the strike. During the 24-hour strike that starts at 10pm on Monday NMBS says that 60% of intercity (IC) services will run. Meanwhile, rush-hour “P train services will be very few and far between.