The letter leaked in a number of French-language newspapers, vrt reports.
The measure is leading to long queues for passengers and could quickly spiral “out of control”. Dutordoir asks the government to come up with a quick solution before the Easter holidays, or she will end traffic to the coast: “Because the risks for the travelers and for our staff would be unacceptable.” Dutordoir does add that this is not the solution she wants.
The reservation system were “not feasible in Belgian rail traffic, which has not been designed for that, and never had that goal in mind”, the CEO writes.
The rule applies during the Easter holidays (April 3-18) and the weekend of April 24 and 25 and are part of a series of extra restrictions to attempt at keeping the third corona virus curve as low as possible. Children under the age of 12 are allowed to occupy other seats.
According to Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne, the application of the rule is “doable”. According to him, the rule will be maintained, but the rail operator may call on extra police officers for crowd control at stations.
