Rail passengers will no longer be able to buy a ticket on board a train from this summer onwards, Belgium's publicly owned rail company NMBS has announced. The measure is intended to combat fraud.
Since 2015, a surcharge has applied to anyone buying a ticket on the train. This means passengers without a ticket have the chance to buy one from the conductor, with an additional surcharge of 9 euros.
From 1 July, anyone travelling without a ticket will be found to be in breach of the rules and will have to pay a 90-euro penalty within 14 days. If the payment is not made within that period, an administrative fine of 250 euros follows. This rises to 500 euros for repeat offenders, and the conductor may also call in security staff to deal with passengers who cannot produce proof of identity.
According to the NMBS, the abolition of the possibility of purchasing tickets on board will reduce fare evasion.
“Disputes over not having a valid ticket are the main cause of aggression against staff,” the company says. “In 2025, no fewer than 2,602 cases of aggression against staff were recorded, or an average of seven per day. Unfortunately, this figure has risen compared to 2024, when 2,103 cases of aggression were recorded.”
Currently, 7 per cent of passengers are unable to produce a valid ticket during an inspection. On-board sales accounted for less than 1.5 per cent of total sales last year.
The NMBS is also introducing additional checks, including mobile teams dedicated to ticket inspections. The number of checks rose by half last year compared to 2024, the company says.
Installing ticket gates at stations is also under consideration. Mobility minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Francophone centrist) Les Engagés is in favour of the measure.