31 Jan '17

NMBS scraps several ‘client-unfriendly’ rules

Summary

The rail authority has eased up on charging customers for every misstep, eliminating fees on forgotten passes and extra charges for interrupting the journey

 

‘What we’ve been asking for years’

The national rail authority NMBS is changing some of its terms and conditions in an effort to eliminate the most customer-unfriendly conditions, it has announced. At present, the full set of terms and conditions runs to 250 pages, which the company said it was reducing to 15.

“The general legal conditions will be gathered into 15 pages without losing out on coverage,” an NMBS spokesperson said.

Among the changes that will be scrapped as of tomorrow are the elimination of the €8 administrative charge to passengers who don’t have their rail pass on hand and the ability to get a refund on a ticket that’s not used within 30 minutes without paying a fee. The latter would also allow passengers to get off the train and back on in the middle of the journey without having to pay extra.

Public transport user group TreinTramBus said they were pleased with the changes. “This is what we’ve been asking them to do for years,” said a spokesperson. But it also pointed out some other NMBS conditions could still be easily removed.

Photo: Wester/Wikimedia

Now read this

NMBS

Belgium’s national railway system was established in 1926 and is the sole provider of passenger train traffic in the country.
Overhaul - Starting in 2014, the railway system will operate under a two-pronged structure with transport division NMBS and infrastructure operator Infrabel. The umbrella organisation, NMBS Holding, will disappear.
Trio - NMBS comprises three organisational units: NMBS Mobility, NMBS Europe and NMBS Technics.
Criticism - The rail authority has frequently made headlines with continuing delays. The most common causes for delays are malfunctioning trains and infrastructure glitches.
223

million travellers in 2012

87

percent of trains on time in 2012

43

percent increase in female employees since 2005

  • NMBS
  • SNCB Europe
  • Visit Flanders

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