Guaranteed service: the Bellot law proves its worth and must still evolve
At the initiative of the MR group, the Chamber's Mobility Committee held hearings with the SNCB, Infrabel and TreinTramBus to draw up the first assessment of the 2017 law on guaranteed service during strikes. Championed by the MR, this legislation requires the SNCB to plan strictly ahead: mandatory notice, service planning and clear dialogue with staff to ensure a minimum number of trains run during strikes.
Since the law came into force, 44 alternative transport plans have been deployed, 24 of them in 2025 alone. The scheme is activated every day of the week, mainly on Tuesdays, and effectively anticipates industrial action. Thanks to coordination between the SNCB and Infrabel, passengers are informed in good time of the adjusted service, with full and transparent communication at least 24 hours before the strike day.
For federal MR MP Gilles Foret: “The guaranteed service has clearly changed the game since its introduction. I would also stress that its rigorous and unambiguous implementation has confirmed that the right to strike was fully respected, which is the whole point of the project.”
Users are showing renewed confidence, with trains increasingly full on strike days, proof that the scheme meets their expectations and supports the continuity of work.
The MR welcomes the SNCB's broadly positive stance: passengers now benefit from a stable and reliable system during industrial disputes. “This whole scheme reinforces our multimodal approach, which I have long championed. I hope this service can be extended to other public transport modes, such as the TEC in Wallonia, which play an essential role in ensuring access to mobility for everyone,” adds Gilles Foret.
“Anticipation and planning are key to the scheme, and the MR supports evaluating the framework to improve it further. We are indeed seeing renewed and strengthened confidence among users, who can continue reaching their workplace on strike days, which was the original purpose of the Bellot law,” concludes the federal MP.
The MR will fully support the improvements proposed by the SNCB and Infrabel to make the service even more robust, fair and extended to all forms of soft mobility.