Belgium’s national rail operator SNCB-NMBS published an early-morning notice flagging the likelihood of “large numbers of travellers” on services into Brussels on 9 October because of the nationwide demonstration. The carrier urged passengers to avoid peak hours, use its crowding-indicator app and, where possible, postpone non-essential journeys. Although rail employees are not striking until a separate action scheduled for 11–12 October, the convergence of protesters meant trains on the Antwerp–Brussels and Ghent–Brussels corridors reached standing-room-only conditions. SNCB deployed additional stewards at Bruxelles-Central and Bruxelles-Midi to direct flows and handed out water at bottlenecks. International itineraries were also affected. Eurostar asked ticket-holders to check in 30 minutes earlier, warning that passport-control queues could lengthen as platform areas became congested. Some firms shifted last-minute meetings to virtual formats after staff reported two-hour door-to-door times between the EU Quarter and the airport. Corporate mobility managers should note that from 22:00 on Sunday, 11 October, a separate rail strike will further reduce the timetable. SNCB says those services will appear in journey-planners from Saturday night, enabling travellers to re-book or re-route via Luxembourg or Lille if necessary.
Source: SNCB-NMBS
