Scrapping night bus to Brussels Airport “a bad idea”

A plan by Flemish public transport authority De Lijn to scrap the night bus service between Anderlecht in Brussels and Brussels Airport in Zaventem is “a bad idea,” according to Paul Delva, fraction leader for CD&V in the Brussels parliament. 

Line 620 runs from Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht through Molenbeek, Saint-Josse, Schaerbeek and Evere to the airport. It only carries 75 passengers a night, said De Lijn, at an annual cost of €650,000.

According to Delva, the bus is particularly important for people who work at the airport. The timetable corresponds with the starting and finish times of the night shift. And he contested the figures presented by De Lijn.

“The number of passengers has gone up in recent years. In 2010 there were only 731 a month on average. That went up to 1,270 a month in 2011 and 1,380 in 2012. At the last count in November last year, 2,696 passengers were counted.”

De Lijn, meanwhile, is considering alternatives. “The line could be partly taken over by taxis, for instance, perhaps in co-operation with other transport companies,” suggested Dominique Renders of De Lijn in Flemish Brabant. “We could also look to see if the line could be taken over by another line. There are a number of possibilities that need to be explored.”