Flanders' public transport company De Lijn continued to use diesel buses inside Brussels' low emission zone (LEZ) even though they have been banned from circulation since the start of the year.
Regulations on the vehicles allowed inside the LEZ were tightened this year, with authorities adding Euro 2 diesel-powered vehicles to the list of vehicles banned in the zone, created in 2018.
"We are aware that De Lijn drove, up to a few months ago, with Euro 2 standard buses," a representative of Bruxelles Environnement told Bruzz.
While some cars are exempted from the ban, such those used by the military or by emergency services, public transport vehicles are not eligible for an exemption and are subject to fines.
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A spokesperson with De Lijn confirmed that the company had already been fined but declined to provide information on the number of fines or say how many of their buses are concerned by the ban, according to the outlet.
The spokesperson told Bruzz that the company did their "utmost" to make their fleet compliant with the LEZ, adding that other transport providers were also facing similar difficulties.
But representatives of Brussels' STIB/MIVB and Wallonia's TEC both said that they had no vehicles which violated the new regulations in the LEZ.
"De Lijn tries as much as possible to ban Euro 2 and 3 norm-vehicles," a representative of the ACOD umbrella organisation for public services told Bruzz, adding that the buses were driven by the company only as a back-up solution in order to be able to guarantee service.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
