The conclusion of the management contract for the NMBS railway company is in the final straight line. This Friday, the file is before the board of directors of the railway company, and should in principle be approved by December 23, after the green light from the government and the unions. This was stated by the top woman of the NMBS, Sophie Dutordoir, today on RTBF.
Dutordoir said during the ‘Déclic’ program that an agreement was reached on Monday “in private” with Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet. The management contract will be submitted to the board of directors of the railway company for approval on Friday.
For the first time, the management contract covers a period of ten years. “It is an industrial plan, not a communication plan,” said Dutordoir. “The amounts have been reduced, but the ambitions remain.”
During the most recent budget conclave of the federal government, the NMBS received less money than requested, as a result of which it will have to postpone a number of investments planned for 2023-2024 until the following years, Dutordoir said earlier.
Dutordoir spoke out while rail traffic has been disrupted by strikes for three days. She notes that the rail system is under pressure from decades of underinvestment. As a result, the equipment and infrastructure are outdated and there is a shortage of personnel. Although the resources that the government will allocate are substantial, they will not be enough to restore a situation that has existed for too long.
In addition to the NMBS, the government is also working on a new agreement – performance contract – with rail network manager Infrabel. That process follows a similar course, with December 23 as a target for final approval.
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