Large parts of Brussels and the Flemish periphery are seeing bus routes diverted on Sunday, 11 October 2026 as tens of thousands of demonstrators take to the streets for the annual Climate March. De Lijn, the Flemish public-transport operator, issued an “active disruption” notice this morning confirming that routes R81, R90 and 819 are being rerouted between 12:00 and 18:00 local time. The diversions affect the busy Brussel-Noord – Leuven and inner-city Lozenberg corridors, two arteries heavily used by commuters heading to Zaventem business parks and the city’s EU district. The march follows Friday’s country-wide union demonstration and comes 24 hours before a separate public-sector strike planned for Monday, magnifying pressure on already-strained urban mobility. Companies located along the affected axes—including several multinational headquarters in the Brussels periphery—have advised employees to work remotely or to shift meetings online. Travellers heading for Brussels Airport have been told to build at least 45-minutes’ extra margin into their journeys and to check live updates in De Lijn’s route-planner app. Although the climate march is confined to Brussels, knock-on effects are being felt well beyond the capital because many regional and inter-city bus lines feed into the same city-centre hubs. This is particularly relevant for assignees living in Leuven or Mechelen who rely on De Lijn’s express services for daily commuting: alternative stops have been set up on the E40 ring road, but walking distances to final destinations may exceed one kilometre. From a compliance perspective, employers should remember that Belgium does not grant automatic paid leave for transport disruptions. However, Belgian labour law does allow ‘absence for reasons beyond the employee’s control’; mobility managers should therefore document disruptions carefully—De Lijn provides downloadable certificates—that employees can attach to timesheets. Looking ahead, De Lijn warns that further ad-hoc detours are possible if crowd control measures shift during the demonstration. Riders are encouraged to subscribe to push notifications and to monitor @delijn on X (Twitter) for real-time information.
Source: De Lijn
