Business travellers heading to Brussels Airport over the next three weeks will need to build extra time into their itineraries. Belgian infrastructure manager Infrabel began intensive maintenance work on 15 November in the southbound tunnel that links the airport station (Zaventem) with the national rail network. Tracks, sleepers and five sets of switches are being replaced, along with 1.2 km of new rail, forcing operator SNCB to cut the number of stopping services by as much as 40 %.
The tunnel is the airport’s main heavy-rail artery, carrying inter-city and suburban services to Brussels-Midi, Antwerp, Leuven and Liège, as well as international Eurocity and ICE trains. During the works, many IC trains are terminating at intermediate stations where passengers must change, while some airport services are cancelled outright outside the morning and evening peaks. SNCB is advising passengers to consult its real-time app and, where possible, use De Lijn bus routes R26 and 82, which accept rail tickets at no extra cost.
![Brussels Airport rail-tunnel overhaul slashes train frequencies until 9 December]()
Infrabel engineers say concentrating the renewal into a 25-day block avoids months of weekend closures, but admit the timing—at the start of the winter business-travel season—will be painful. Brussels-based mobility managers are already re-routing assignees through Amsterdam Schiphol or Paris-CDG for time-critical meetings, adding hotel nights but guaranteeing onward rail links.
From a compliance angle, global-mobility teams should remind non-EU assignees that Schengen-area overstays caused by missed flights are still counted against their 90-in-180-day allowance. Travellers whose residence permits are expiring in late November are urged to plan a minimum three-hour buffer between train arrival at Zaventem and scheduled flight departure.
The works are scheduled to finish in the early hours of 10 December, after which normal timetables will resume. If bad weather forces additional night possessions, SNCB will extend the replacement-bus scheme and publish updates 24 hours in advance.
The tunnel is the airport’s main heavy-rail artery, carrying inter-city and suburban services to Brussels-Midi, Antwerp, Leuven and Liège, as well as international Eurocity and ICE trains. During the works, many IC trains are terminating at intermediate stations where passengers must change, while some airport services are cancelled outright outside the morning and evening peaks. SNCB is advising passengers to consult its real-time app and, where possible, use De Lijn bus routes R26 and 82, which accept rail tickets at no extra cost.
Infrabel engineers say concentrating the renewal into a 25-day block avoids months of weekend closures, but admit the timing—at the start of the winter business-travel season—will be painful. Brussels-based mobility managers are already re-routing assignees through Amsterdam Schiphol or Paris-CDG for time-critical meetings, adding hotel nights but guaranteeing onward rail links.
From a compliance angle, global-mobility teams should remind non-EU assignees that Schengen-area overstays caused by missed flights are still counted against their 90-in-180-day allowance. Travellers whose residence permits are expiring in late November are urged to plan a minimum three-hour buffer between train arrival at Zaventem and scheduled flight departure.
The works are scheduled to finish in the early hours of 10 December, after which normal timetables will resume. If bad weather forces additional night possessions, SNCB will extend the replacement-bus scheme and publish updates 24 hours in advance.
