Yesterday afternoon’s false bomb threat in Leuven has cost those involved a great deal of time, money and effort. Following several “vague” reports of a bomb at the station, train services were suspended for more than two hours. The public prosecutor’s office is searching for the perpetrators, partly to recover the costs.
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False report, huge cost: the consequences of the bomb hoax in Leuven
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“Everything is fine now, but the impact was enormous,” says Dimitri Temmerman, spokesperson for train operator NMBS. “During rush hour, around 25 trains pass through Leuven every hour, travelling to destinations across the country: Ghent, Antwerp, the coast, the airport… The impact was felt almost everywhere.”
Train services were suspended for around 2.5 hours, with 200 trains being cancelled or rescheduled. “In total, there were 4,500 minutes of delays, which equates to 75 hours. It is now up to us to calculate how much that has cost,” says Temmerman. “The impact doesn’t stop as soon as the station is reopened: the delays continue for a while, but we also have to ensure that diverted trains get back to the right place overnight. All of that costs money.”
You could easily estimate tens of thousands of euros in losses yesterday
In 2019, a student from Namur was convicted of making around 10 false bomb threats to stations in Brussels, Liège and Mons, as well as Charleroi Airport. Police tracked him down via Facebook and his IP address. The student received the maximum community service sentence and was ordered to pay €380,000 to cover the costs of the evacuations.
Leuven’s bus station was also closed on Wednesday and public transport operator De Lijn felt the impact. “At times like this, passenger comfort comes first,” says spokesperson Jens Van Herp. “So we bring in extra staff to hand out water, for example, and drivers can work overtime. The impact is less significant than for NMBS, but there is a cost involved regardless.”
We have to ensure that diverted trains get back to the right place overnight. All of that costs money
Motorists also faced difficulties due to the threat. Many streets around the station were closed, and the closure of the Oostertunnel beneath the station had a particularly significant impact, explains Hajo Beeckman from the VRT traffic desk. All traffic from the Leuven ring road and the E314 was diverted, and there were heavy traffic jams in and around the city.
‘Transport and Mobility Leuven, a spin-off from KU Leuven, calculates a cost of €20 per hour per car,” says Beeckman. “They also factor in the environmental impact and lost productivity. For lorries, you can estimate €80, as those delays have a significant impact on businesses. In total, you could easily estimate tens of thousands of euros in losses yesterday."
The police turned out in full force at the station. “We deployed 13 patrols – basically everyone we could spare,” says spokesperson Lore Verschakelen. The local police force had assistance from the federal police, the railway police and Securail, as well as deploying a helicopter and a sniffer dog.
Is every report taken equally seriously? “With every bomb threat, we carry out an internal analysis. How did the report come in? How did the person on the phone sound?” says Verschakelen.
“Of course, we’re not going to close the station because of giggling children making a report, but we err on the side of caution. Fortunately, everything went smoothly and we found nothing suspicious, but an operation like this does cost money.’