Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet has launched a study with the view to promoting greater interconnectivity between Belgian railway stations and local bus services, Sudinfo reports.
The minister aims to turn the country’s rail stations into “connection nodes” which will enable passengers to get off a train at medium-sized stations and connect directly with a local train or bus within six minutes, thanks to new “integrated timetables”.
This is a “real revolution”, according to the minister, that will require “a dialogue with all the players”, notably the Regions and their respective transport companies.
“It will take a little time,” Gillkinet conceded. In Namur and Mons, the minister plans to launch a study to assess the feasibility of the new plans.
“I am launching the process, in the form of a study, which must show under what conditions we can succeed: We must confirm that it is economically feasible, that it can be applied to the Belgian network without disproportionate investment, and that it is technically feasible without impact on current service,” the minister told Sudinfo.
The minister said that the new interconnectivity would likely be implemented “during the next legislature”, also promising to create new integrated tariffs for the connections.
