2023-11-05 15:19:00
One of our readers, Joseph Stevenin, Belgian, living in Steinfort (L) on the border near Arlon, recounts his misadventure which occurred this Saturday.
“I was returning from a stay in Amsterdam with our granddaughter. I took the train back to Brussels towards Arlon. We had to get off at 6:27 p.m. at Jemelle and due to roadworks, get on a bus which took us to Libramont. Then change of driver in Libramont to Marbehan by road. And take the train to Marbehan to Arlon. Everything went normally on the bus between Jemelle and Libramont.
Around 7:20 p.m., in front of Libramont station, there are around forty passengers in the same bus chartered by the SNCB which is to take us in Marbehan. But here’s the first problem: there is no guide on board and young people, who seemed drunk, were getting into trouble. There was no attendant to comment on them.
Second problem: our SNCB driver apparently didn’t know the province of Luxembourg at all! At the exit of Libramont, at the Recogne crossroads, instead of going up the E 411 2 km away, he turned at the crossroads and… came back towards Libramont! Then he returned to the Recogne crossroads, drove towards Verlaine-Neufchâteau and finally got on the motorway.
Our driver drove very slowly on the highway… to the point of being overtaken several times by heavy goods vehicles. He takes the Léglise exit, too early since you have to take the Rulles exit to get to Marbehan. He realizes his mistake and gets back on the highway.”says Mr. Stévenin.
3/4 hour drive
It’s not over… The SNCB driver takes the Rulles exit – phew! – but… he changes his mind, turns around and gets back on the highway. It exits at the next exit, Habay, in the direction of Etalle.
Joseph Stévenin continues: “I went to him to ask him why he was not not released in Rulles, which is close to Marbehan. Answer: “Because I thought that there was a bridge at the entrance to Rulles and that I would not be able to cross. And if you’re not happy, you can get behind the wheel!”
At the exit of the E 411 at Habay, the driver takes a right, crosses Houdemont, Rulles and finally reaches Marbehan station at 8:24 p.m. But the train towards Arlon did not wait and has already left 10 minutes earlier!”Passengers’ dismay: “It’s incredible that given the circumstances, no one from the SNCB kept the train that was supposed to take us to Arlon waiting”dit Joseph Stevenin.
Consequence: the passengers, angry, asked relatives to come and look for them. Joseph and his granddaughter had to wait another ¾ hour for the next IC train, leaving Marbehan at 9:15 p.m., to take them back to Arlon. “My granddaughter had to go to the toilet… And there are no accessible toilets at Marbehan station!”
That’s the whole misadventure. One more chapter to write in the painful saga of public transport in Belgian Luxembourg.
“Sorry”
We have taken the reaction of SNCB following these incidents. These drivers are employees of companies paid by SNCB following ongoing work by Infrabel. Furthermore, Élisa Roux, for SNCB, specifies: “We are sorry for these inconveniences: the infrastructure manager Infrabel is carrying out work on this line, and SNCB is doing its utmost to compensate for this work and offer travelers a travel solution. We will contact the external bus company to inform them.”
1699212949
#SNCB #driver #didnt #route #minutes #Libramont #Marbehan