8 Jan '15

Unions and passengers protest against De Lijn cuts

Summary

A consortium of unions and transport groups are protesting outside the office of Flemish transport minister Ben Weyts today because of budget cuts to Flanders’ transport authority De Lijn

Group to meet with mobility minister

A group of unions and transport users are due to carry out a protest today in front of the offices of Flemish mobility minister Ben Weyts in Brussels, in opposition to spending cuts forced on the Flemish public transport authority, De Lijn. The cuts, protesters say, “mean that the right to mobility can no longer be guaranteed.”
 

Among the effects of the budget cuts are an end to free public transport for seniors and the scrapping of little-used early and late bus services. “In some rural areas and for some groups in society, we’re seeing a new form of transport poverty,” said Rita Coeck, general secretary of the public service union ACOD. “That’s why we have joined with other like-minded organisations to convince the Flemish government to provide more and better public transport in Flanders. That’s in the interest of the future mobility and the quality of life of all citizens.”

ACOD representatives will be joined by members of transport users’ group TreinTramBus, the Flemish Seniors Council, over-55 organisation Okra, the Network for Sustainable Mobility and a number of other trade unions. The delegation will gather on Martelaarsplein in Brussels at midday, before being received by Weyts in his office.

Photo by Spoorjan/Wikimedia

A consortium of unions and transport groups are protesting outside the office of Flemish transport minister Ben Weyts today because of budget cuts to Flanders’ transport authority De Lijn.

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De Lijn

De Lijn is Flanders’ public transportation system for city and regional travel. It operates bus and tram services across Flanders and parts of Brussels.
Belbus - De Lijn offers a taxi-meets-bus service in sparsely populated areas with its Belbus (Call bus). The Belbus only rides when a user requests it.
Kusttram - De Lijn operates the longest tramline in the world on the Belgian coast. Connecting Knokke in the north all the way to De Panne near the French border, the Coast Tram is the staple means of transportation along the coast.
Stakeholders - Three-quarters of Flemish municipalities are De Lijn stakeholders. Their shares don’t have any monetary value but do earn them a vote in the company’s annual general meeting.
1 990

De Lijn founded

93

largest-ever De Lijn investment in million euros

554

million passenger rides in 2012

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