Changing in any of the Brussels stations when travelling between BRU and Oostende is a real nightmare sometimes. Last year we went Oostende-Antwerp-BRU rather than change in Brussels. At least in Antwerp you are boarding the train at the start and not getting onto an already full train that has started somewhere else. Oostende-BRU is a long overdue route I think!Charlie Roy wrote:You took the words right out of my mouth. A BRU - Oostende connection would certainly make my life easier. Time to start a campaignConnections from BRU to Brugge and Oostende would be popular
Also some of the trains on the airport service are entirely unsuitable for that run.
This was the train from BRU into Brussels we caught last September. It consisted of two carriage units, which filled up in BRU, as you would expect, with people carrying lots of luggage. There was no proper luggage space between seats like you get on some trains and it was crammed, it was quite difficult to get to the doors when we wanted to get off because the train was so full. These two unit things might be perfect on quieter "stoptrein" routes but they are not fit for the airport run.
The three carriage unit we caught from Antwerp to BRU was a little better in that it had space between seats for luggage, but it still got very full. Some of these airport trains are too short. De Panne often has a double decker running to the airport, why can't these trains be used on most, if not all, of the airport services?