Hot on the heels of Friday’s stoppage, rail company SNCB/NMBS has published a contingency timetable covering Sunday night through Monday, 11–12 October 2026. The carrier anticipates that signalling staff and train conductors will participate in a second union action, forcing the cancellation of roughly 1,200 services—about 45 % of normal weekday traffic. Priority will be given to airport shuttles and cross-border IC trains connecting Brussels with Paris, Amsterdam and Cologne, but frequencies will be trimmed to hourly. International travellers should be aware that the Thalys and Eurostar operators rely on SNCB staff for dispatch in Brussels-Midi. While through services are scheduled to run, last-minute crew shortages could see trains originating in Lille or Antwerp instead. SNCB says tickets dated 11–12 October can be used on any train the same day, but seat reservations on high-speed services may not be honoured. Companies with mobile workforces are already re-booking Monday morning meetings or switching to video calls. Several relocation consultancies report that residence-permit pick-ups scheduled for Monday are being moved to later in the week after communes warned of skeleton staffing. The Flemish Mobility Department has activated emergency park-and-ride sites outside Leuven and Mechelen to discourage car traffic on the E40 and E19 corridors. NMBS management insists negotiations are ongoing, but unions have hinted at rolling strikes through the end of the quarter if no compromise is reached on staffing ratios. Mobility advisers recommend monitoring the NMBS website and social-media feeds, as real-time updates are often posted only hours before first departures.
Source: SNCB/NMBS
