Brussels’ public utility company, STIB, had 9,037 employees at the end of 2018, and plans to recruit 840 more, its management said on Wednesday, on presenting its 2018 annual report.
The STIB workforce amounted to 8,798.7 full-time equivalents, 3% more than at the end of 2017.
The staff to be recruited include 500 drivers, 50 electro-mechanical technicians, 40 mechanics and 30 IT and telecoms technicians, along with project managers and administrative staff. They will offset staff losses due to retirement and also help the utility to mount and implement plans to develop the network.
This is linked to a constant increase in passenger traffic - which was 417.6 million in 2018, 4% higher than in 2017, and a 45.9% increase in 10 years – and the increased capacity of the company’s network, in terms of frequency, vehicles and extension. According to the report, capacity increased by 38% in 10 years.
Last year, STIB’s trams and subway trains travelled a total of 46.7 million kilometres, close to 779,000 km more than in 2017. This was due, among other things, to a 340-million-euro investment in the network in 2018 and the targeted increase in the frequency of vehicles on certain lines in the early morning, at weekend and in the summer.
All this was made possible, on the ground, by extensions to the tram network through the new line 9 in Jette and the extension of Line 8 in Woluwe, the creation of the No. 33 electric bus line in the city centre and the gradual addition of standard and articulated electric buses, among other things.
By the end of this year, 288 new buses equipped with new technology will be added to the existing fleet, replacing old, more polluting buses.
In 2020, STIB will receive the first of 90 new-generation trams and 43 new subway lines. These are meant to increase the frequency of trains on existing lines, and to enable STIB to operate the future subway line No. 3 to Schaerbeek.
The Government of Brussels plans to spend about 6.2 billion euros on new investments along the STIB network, STIB CEO Brieuc de Meeùs recalled. This is expected to enable the Brussels company to increase the traffic on its network to between 450 million and 475 million passengers by 2023.
The Brussels Times
