Belgium Rail Strike Cuts Trains Jan 25 to Jan 30

Belgium's national rail operator SNCB NMBS says a strike notice has been issued covering Sunday, January 25, 2026, at 10 PM through Friday, January 30, 2026, at 10 PM. Travelers using Belgian domestic trains, airport rail links, and station transfers through Brussels are the most exposed, especially on itineraries built around tight same day connections. The safest move is to shift travel outside the window where you can, and where you cannot, add time buffers, and line up a non rail backup before availability tightens.

The Belgium rail strike is likely to reduce trains nationwide on a minimum service plan that is typically confirmed close to departure, which turns normal looking itineraries into last minute rebooking problems for airport and cross border trips.

Who Is Affected

The highest risk group is anyone relying on Belgian trains for precise timing, including travelers moving between Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and smaller cities where frequency normally acts as a buffer. When a minimum service plan replaces a normal timetable, the practical effect is not just fewer departures, it is uneven coverage by corridor and time of day, plus higher crowding pressure on the departures that do run.

Airport positioning is a key failure point because rail is the default link for many itineraries. Brussels Airport (BRU) sits on the national rail network, and frequent direct trains normally connect the terminal area with Brussels North, Brussels Central, and Brussels South stations, with onward links via transfers to cities such as Amsterdam, Paris, and London. During a minimum service period, the chain becomes fragile, because a single missing departure can erase the buffer that makes same day flight positioning feel safe.

Cross border travelers should treat Brussels South, commonly called Brussels Midi, as the most sensitive node. Even when an international train operates, the domestic Belgian leg you planned before or after it may not, and separate tickets make that mismatch expensive. This matters for Eurostar routings across Belgium's high speed corridors, and for Germany bound plans where Brussels connections feed services such as ICE, which links Belgium with Aachen, Cologne, and Frankfurt.

Second order effects spread beyond rail itself. When trains thin out, travelers substitute with coaches, taxis, rideshare, and one way car rentals, which can tighten inventory quickly around Brussels and the other major stations. The knock on is often an overnight you did not plan, which pushes up last minute hotel demand near Brussels Midi and in tourist bases such as Bruges, where day trips can turn into unplanned stays.

What Travelers Should Do

If travel is optional or movable, the most reliable fix is to shift Belgian rail dependent days outside the strike window now, while hotels and ground transport are still relatively available. If you must travel, book a refundable backup for the segment that would cause the biggest loss if it fails, which is usually airport positioning or an international departure, and build in extra time for station transfers that rely on domestic Belgian trains.

Use a clear decision threshold for rebooking versus waiting. If missing the arrival would cost you a flight, a cruise, a timed tour, a meeting, or a nonrefundable hotel night, treat any plan that arrives with a tight margin as a reroute candidate, and consider repositioning the night before near the station or the airport instead of betting on same day rail. If the consequence is only a later arrival, waiting can make sense, but only after your specific train is shown as operating in the official journey planner under the minimum service plan.

Over the next 24 to 72 hours before you depart, monitor when SNCB loads the alternative timetable for your date, and recheck again the evening before travel. SNCB's continuity process is built around staff declarations, so the plan becomes actionable late, and it can still shift as the operator finalizes what can realistically be run. For international segments, monitor the SNCB International disruption channel and Eurostar updates, and avoid stacking multiple tight connections on the same day.

Background

Belgian rail strikes rarely behave like a simple on off switch for travelers, because SNCB builds a minimum service plan based on which essential staff report they will work. The operator says the alternative plan is constrained by a legal continuity framework, with essential staff required to declare intentions ahead of the strike, and the train by train plan then prepared and loaded into the journey planner close to departure.

That minimum service design is the first order disruption, fewer trains and longer gaps. The second order ripple is how the cuts propagate through hubs and connections. Brussels stations become recovery magnets where crowding, customer service queues, and platform churn rise, while missed inbound legs strand travelers who planned to connect onward by Eurostar, ICE, or domestic intercity services. The third layer is mode shift: as passengers abandon rail for roads, taxi and coach capacity tightens, car rental one way inventory compresses, and hotel availability near major stations can shrink, especially when multiple travelers are forced into the same limited set of late day alternatives.

Travelers planning multi country itineraries should treat the Belgium rail strike as a network risk, not just a Belgian domestic issue. A canceled Belgian feeder can break a Paris, Amsterdam, or Germany plan even if the international train itself runs, and that is why separate ticket protection, buffer time, and a pre planned fallback transfer matter more than usual. Related reporting on Belgium Nationwide Rail Strike Hits Trains Jan 26 to 30 and France Rail Strike May Disrupt Trains January 13, 2026 is a reminder that late posted reduced timetables are the common failure mode across European rail strikes, and travelers should plan accordingly.

Sources

• Strikes and union actions | SNCB-NMBS
• Belgian rail unions announce week-long strike over reforms and funding cuts
• Train to and from Brussels Airport | Fast & direct
• ICE high speed train to Germany
• Routemap
• Take the train to the airport I SNCB-NMBS