Flemish airline De Lijn makes biggest changes ever: more than 3,200 bus stops removed

From Saturday, Flemish public transport company De Lijn will implement the biggest changes ever: more than 3,200 bus stops will disappear, and buses will now run more along main roads rather than through neighborhoods and villages, so that they can be faster. The changes were strongly criticized by De Lijn and the Flemish government.

The changes are part of “Basic Accessibility”, a mobility concept that has been gradually introduced in the Flemish region since 2019. The concept is based on a demand-driven public transport policy, with buses on demand, coordination of train, bus and tram routes and an increased focus on advance transport. Follow by bike, foot or car.

17% of bus stops have been removed

In practice, as of Saturday this will mean the cancellation of more than 3,200 bus stops across Flanders: 17% of the total. Stops are disappearing, especially in the provinces of Limburg and West Flanders, and existing bus routes suddenly run differently, more often via the main road around villages and neighbourhoods. According to Anne Schops, director of De Lijn, most people keep their regular bus stops, but this is mainly due to the introduction of so-called flexible stops: bus stops where only reserved buses stop. Reservations can be made via Hoppin, the Belgian mobility platform.

The Flemish government is happy with the changes in public transport. “We want to closely monitor demand and efficiently deploy resources where they are needed,” Transport Minister Lydia Peters said two months ago. However, this satisfaction is difficult to find at the local level. For example, the municipality of Breden will now allocate additional funds to arrange additional transportation itself, so that residents of the Groenendijk district can still reach De Lien bus station. “We have one truck driven by a municipal employee that drives around at certain hours,” Mayor Steve Vandenberg told VRT NWS.

'Many people are let down'

PVDA Member of Parliament José Desi was in the news last week due to strong criticism of the new mobility policy in Flanders. “The basic mobility principle started from the right principle: creating supply in order to move new people onto public transport. But the basic accessibility plan is based on demand-driven supply: buses will only be used when people board the bus. “Then,” he explained in the Flemish Parliament’s studio. “I let a lot of people down.”

Meanwhile, Minister Peters and D-Lynn President Anne Schops were also at loggerheads this fall. Schops complained about the transport company's poor funding (“a corrupt strategy”), to which the minister responded with dissatisfaction, saying that Schops had better stop “complaining and nagging”. However, De Leyen has a point when he complains about lack of money, says mobility expert Dirk Luers of Ghent University: “The Flemish government invests very little in public transport, which means De Leyen can no longer play its social role,” he says. At the conference. VRT. Lauwers isn't necessarily negative about the demand-driven public transportation that de Leen is focusing on now, “but it has to have a better budget.”