Many train services cancelled

December 10 2007- Around half of the train services in Flanders and Brussels didn’t run on Saturday morning as a result of strike actions by members of the Independent Rail Union.

The company in charge of managing Belgium’s rail infrastructure Infrabel says that it’s possible that even the services that do run on Saturday may suffer delays as a result of the srike action. (Belga) Although the Independent Rail Union OVS is relatively small, the strike is having a big impact on rail services across Flanders and Brussels. Wallonia has been less badly hit by the industrial action.

The union is demanding that the Belgian rail operator NMBS take on extra train drivers and that the status of train drivers within the company be upgraded.

According to OVS, the already high pressure of work suffered by Belgian train drivers will only increase as a result of the new timetable that is due to come into force from tomorrow.

The train drivers are demanding a big pay increase to compensate for the extra work.

The strike ended at midnight on Saturday.