Belgian Train Strike PLEASE HELP
 

HI ALL
Just read about the planned train strikes and am quite concerned as I have never encountered this before and am trying to mitigate this before we leave for Amsterdam on Friday the 17th.
We are currently booked on Thalys-Brussels to Bruges on the 23rd to the 25th and then on to Paris on the 25th.
Given these dates- any advice would be greatly appreciated. I would (sadly) rather rearrange to go directly from Amsterdam to Paris (perhaps with an extra day in each place) if it means that we will be unable to get to Bruges with certainty.
Specific questions include- would direct travel from Amsterdam (no stops on Thalys) be impacted as well by this strike? '
As I said- would greatly appreciate your input- we have been planning this trip for quite a while, as have most on this board.
Thanks so very much

Thalys is not impacted by SNCF or SNCB strikes, as they are another company.

Some Thalys were cancelled during national strikes. That means about 1/3rd of the Thalys and most of the ones going to Germany.
You can get on another Thalys. No prob.

Now, tals are that the strike would probably not go on : Flemish unions refuse to strike, whilst some Walloon unions want to continue.

Thanks so much--i know you are expert on this and anything else Belgian :) that definitely helps, but getting from Brussels to Bruges? we have paper tickets which I am looking at now,it reads ABS (any belgian station) to Bruges. Wouldn't that one be impacted? The ticket was issued by SCNF so Im assuming that that might be? As well- getting from Bruges to Paris on the 25th- we'd have the same problem I'm guessing, since there are no direct trains to Paris and requires a switch.
Do not mean to be wimpy about this, but really want to have a contingency plan- (perhaps buy a refundable direct ticket from Ams to Paris and hope for the best)

There are different types of strikes and Whatello indicates this one issn't shutting everything down. Hopefully that is the case.

When I was in Belgium last May the strike shut EVERYTHING down. Local trains, international trains, buses - unless you had a pre-booked car you weren't moving.

I ended up being 'stuck' in Bruges an extra night (there are worse places to be stuck and everything worked out - had to scramble to to find a B&B for the 2nd night) and cutting my time in SE Belgium by a day/night. There were no rental cars available.


If you want a plan B -- maybe book a rental car from Brussels - one that is cancelable if you don't need it. It is only about a 60 mile drive.

Got it and thanks-
Let's hope that is the case. I literally just switched my reservation to a different hotel in Bruges to a non-refundable rate earlier this week - something I've NEVER done before!
Assume we'll figure this one out, but unfortunately driving isnt an option for us, so fingers crossed.

If there is a strike the risk is very low that Brussels Bruges will be impacted. flanders was hardly impacted during last strikes and they don't want to join the next one.
I would not fear too much but do check a few days before.

Thanks so much whathello- I feel so much better