Reopening Brussels Airport after the 22/03/2016 terror attacks

[Shengenzone]

Getting tired of this madness...

I am sorry to say this, but the love of Belgians to use their car all the time is part of the problem
You are the traffic jam

Well not much chose is their when they closed the 3trainstations in my area 20 years ago. The closest station is 30km away with a ridiculous parking fee. So i am not the problem, the choice our governments have made is the problem...

[Shengenzone]

Had to wait 50minutes on the accesroad again this afternoon. Getting tired of this madness...

I currently have no access to the real-time travel time tracking tool, but over the past weeks maximum measured travel times from the ring road exits and A201 for traffic coming from Brussels, up until the split to P2 and P3 were 10-15 minutes and on very busy days up to a maximum of 25 minutes in the absolute peak. Today was very busy, but 50 minutes would surprise me to be honnest...

But the checkpoint indeed very much slows down the traffic...

Well it was 50minutes. Eventhough the first LED sign said 25 minutes on the acces road.

[RoMax]

Well it was 50minutes. Eventhough the first LED sign said 25 minutes on the acces road.

From where to where did you measure that 50 minutes?

[Stij]

I am sorry to say this, but the love of Belgians to use their car all the time is part of the problem
You are the traffic jam

I dare you to go by train with two toddlers, a stroller and 3 bags to the airport when you have to climb into the old trains...

I dare you to go by train for early morning departures or late evening artivals or in the weekends when trains are rare or just not even there.

Be my guest...

The train works for business travellers and people without kids or to much luggage with arrival and departure on weekdays not to early and not to late. For all other pax it remains a non solution.

Guess who s flying now... people witb kids...

Stij (normally going by train, but not when I fly with my children)

[sn26567]

Brussels Airport recommended using public transportation or the car at the Brucargo Kiss & Ride. If the latter was OK for people coming from Antwerp or Ghent, it was useless for people from Liège, Namur and Mons, as the R0 Ring East was also blocked

Hey Brussels Airport, you should do something about it!

[Shengenzone]

Well it was 50minutes. Eventhough the first LED sign said 25 minutes on the acces road.

From where to where did you measure that 50 minutes?

From the point where you exit the ringroad. As the trouble started there...

[Freken]

A drive through Zaventem was 25 minutes faster then taking the A201 according to Waze/Maps.

Anyways, Ben Weyts announced today that their would be some infrastructure changes on the R0 and the A201, before the big renovation in 2019.

[JOVAN]

Brussels Airport recommended using public transportation or the car at the Brucargo Kiss & Ride. If the latter was OK for people coming from Antwerp or Ghent, it was useless for people from Liège, Namur and Mons, as the R0 Ring East was also blocked

Hey Brussels Airport, you should do something about it!

Pity indeed to see little is done to improve the situation.
Is it incompetence or bad will????

More Drop Points should be created on the highways leading to Brussels,like the Brucargo K&R.

Cannot be so difficult to find places to organize this for people coming from Ghent, Leuven/ Liege, Mons ....
If it is well works well with good, confortable and regular bus-shuttles, people will use it.
Some creativity and collaboration with authorities would help a lot.

[sn26567]

Brussels Airport recommended using public transportation or the car at the Brucargo Kiss & Ride. If the latter was OK for people coming from Antwerp or Ghent, it was useless for people from Liège, Namur and Mons, as the R0 Ring East was also blocked

To illustrate what I said, this was the situation around 14:00

[RoMax]

Having a drop-off zone outside an airport controled area is not as simple as it might sound. Just like having a proper 24/7 public transport network. Or an access road with sufficient capacity, and room/money/permissions to expand. Or an access road without a major bottleneck such as a police checkpoint (in an area which was never designed to be a checkpoint). Or überhaupt a normal drop-off curb.

Don't think the plans aren't there. But the urgency felt by certain parties (and the passengers!) are not shared by all stakeholders that are around the table to make such things happen.
To give an example, there are a lot of parties involved making sure that not too much traffic goes through the centre of Zaventem. Try reaching the airport from the south avoiding the Ring and Zaventem.

[RoMax]

Well it was 50minutes. Eventhough the first LED sign said 25 minutes on the acces road.

From where to where did you measure that 50 minutes?

From the point where you exit the ringroad. As the trouble started there...

Okay well I don't have the numbers of today to claim otherwise, if this was indeed the case, it is indeed outrageous for a route which takes a few minutes if you can drive through in normal traffic (excluding the checkpoint). It's also more than double the maximum travel times measured over the past month.

[ezis_bis]

I dare you to go by train with two toddlers, a stroller and 3 bags to the airport when you have to climb into the old trains...

I dare you to go by train for early morning departures or late evening artivals or in the weekends when trains are rare or just not even there.

Be my guest...

No need to dare me, or to get upset over one's opinion

This being said, I understand it is a bit more of a hassle with very young kids

But I strongly disagree with the 'Old Trains' statement
I really like the new low floor trains, I was in Belgium two weeks ago and found them comfortable and spacey

At the same time, I have a Soviet-made train to Saint-Petersburg wobbling by, I can hear the metal whine from 100km away. That's an old bugger.

[Passenger]

Stranded pax at Brussels Airport, running on the highway with their luggage?

No, it's Amsterdam Schiphol Airport this morning. Reason is an un-announced extra police check on all roads to the airport, apparently for "a safety threat".


Long way to go...

[Stij]

No need to dare me, or to get upset over one's opinion

This being said, I understand it is a bit more of a hassle with very young kids

But I strongly disagree with the 'Old Trains' statement
I really like the new low floor trains, I was in Belgium two weeks ago and found them comfortable and spacey

At the same time, I have a Soviet-made train to Saint-Petersburg wobbling by, I can hear the metal whine from 100km away. That's an old bugger.

I m not upset, just explaining why a lot of Belgians still go by car.

Those new liw floor train sets (MS08) are excellent for luggage. Unfotunatly on the line I have to take their are 35 year old MS80 where you habe climb into...

Russian locomotives... i beleive in the former DDR they called them TaigaTrommel for the noise...

Ok yes indeed, way off topic!!!

Stij

Stij

[Freken]

Those new liw floor train sets (MS08) are excellent for luggage. Unfotunatly on the line I have to take their are 35 year old MS80 where you habe climb into...

Weren't those being renovated anyways? From Wikipedia: Since 2009 these breaks are being renovated in the "New Look" style of the SNCB. You'll still have to climb into them, but it's already a welcome change!

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS80

[Stij]

Weren't those being renovated anyways? From Wikipedia: Since 2009 these breaks are being renovated in the "New Look" style of the SNCB. You'll still have to climb into them, but it's already a welcome change!

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS80

Yep, a welcome change, but futile when travelling with bags strollers and kids...

Stij

[sn26567]

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport this morning. ... un-announced extra police check on all roads to the airport, apparently for "a safety threat".

Let's call it by its mane: it is a terror threat!

Terror threat against Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ongoing

It's the gateway to The Netherlands and for many to Europe. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the nation's main international airport. Armed police are conducting extra-security checks at the 5th busiest airport in Europe today.

Today a security threat around Amsterdam Airport Schiphol airport, caused military police to search every car approaching the airport, and police are highly visible at Dutch train stations.

Source: eTN

This will give Amsterdam a little feeling of what Brussels has been enduring recently ...

Further information: https://www.aviation24.be/airports/amsterd ... l-airport/

[Airbus330lover]

Allo lumumba ?

[Passenger]

The Dutch authorities have issued a statement about todays' threat at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. In the text in English, one phrase from the original text in Dutch is missing: "Aanleiding voor de maatregelen is een signaal dat betrekking heeft op de luchthaven". Translated: the cause for todays' measures is a signal that is related to the airport.

Press release: Additional security measures around Schiphol

In a joint meeting of the Mayor, Public Prosecution Office, Chief Royal Military Police and the Police of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer (in consultation with the NCTV) it was decided to take additional security measures at and around Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. These measures have been discussed with Schiphol Airport.

The airport and its surrounding area remain accessible and all operations can continue as usual. The additional security measures have been put in place to prioritize the safety and security of both passengers and employees.

The "signal" fits within the national threat level, which has been substantial since 2013. As in other parts of the Netherlands, extra vigilance is in place at Schiphol Airport as with other European airports. This requires some additional measures. The measures at and around Schiphol Airport must be seen in this perspective.

The main principle of the joint meeting of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer is to manage the possible risks to passengers and employees in a responsible way and to ensure that activities at Schiphol Airport can continue as usual. The partners consider the additional security measures in line with the above mentioned.

The additional measures are visible and noticeable. Security has been intensified. In addition to these measures, various invisible measures have been put in place as well.

ENG:
https://haarlemmermeergemeente.nl/nieuw ... d-schiphol

In Dutch:
https://haarlemmermeergemeente.nl/nieuw ... m-schiphol

The Dutch press reports that the delay for the passengers was about one hour. Could have been more for the cars / the people that were checked by the police.

It's not known till when the additional police checks will last.

[lumumba]

Allo lumumba ?

I will not react to this simplistic and personal attack.