Bus connection between Brugge and Charleroi Airport

kleineboy · Post by **kleineboy** » 18 Oct 2007, 00:42

From 25 of October.
Four times dailly.
€20 for a single ticket and €38 for a return

http://www.hln.be/hln/alg/pag/hln_index ... onItemId=2

http://www.charleroi-airport.com/doc.ph ... ite=1&lg=2

Charlie Roy · Post by **Charlie Roy** » 18 Oct 2007, 01:20

I hope it's successful, be it'll face stiff competition from the train, which can be as much as half the price of the bus ticket...

FLY4HOURS.BE · Post by **FLY4HOURS.BE** » 18 Oct 2007, 02:37

It' s 18€ for the normal ticket on the Belgian railway network, including a change in Brussels to get to Charleroi-south station.

From there you buy a bus ticket to the airport, and you tell yourself you should have taken the bus.

Stella_Caeli · Post by **Stella_Caeli** » 18 Oct 2007, 08:25

FLY4HOURS: you're not giving the whole picture.

The price for a regular single ticket without bus trip to Chareroi-Sud is indeed 18 EUR. But the price for a *return* ticket "airport Charleroi" from Brugge is only 21 EUR. With this ticket, you can take the train from Brugge to Charleroi-Sud station and then the TEC bus from the station to the airport (Gosselies) and back, the bus trips are included in the price.

Also, at the Ryanair counter in Charleroi airport you can buy a ticket valid for any Belgian destination for 10,50 EUR. This ticket covers a journey in a TEC bus (from the airport to Charleroi-Sud station) and a train journey (from Charleroi-Sud to any station in Belgium).

Kind regards,
Sebastian

FLY4HOURS.BE · Post by **FLY4HOURS.BE** » 18 Oct 2007, 09:05

Sorry you are right

On the other hand I m convinced that there will be customers for this service.

Take a look at the Charleroi-Brussels South station bus-service.
It's often full although quite expensive, and there is one leaving every half an hour or so.

Actually the bus-service is handy in the context of luggage-carrying pax.
A train transit is a nightmare when you travel with luggage.

Acid-drop · Post by **Acid-drop** » 18 Oct 2007, 09:28

It is a very good initiative.
Charleroi is growing in the air, but it's necessary to grow in the ground too, it's all very good.

Even if it's cheaper and probably faster by train, people just prefer to keep things simple by a point-to-point trip. It will be different the day they make a train station in the airport, but that's still in the project box.

regi · Post by **regi** » 18 Oct 2007, 17:45

As a born and raised Brugian, I have some thoughts about this initiative. I read the article and saw that it was defended by JM Bogaert, responsable for tourism.
http://www.brugge.be/internet/nl/bestuu ... hepen7.htm

Was he drunk again when he supported this project ? ( he came in hard contact once with the local police when he didn't want to give his driving licence after smelling and looking, and actually being very drunk - 500 meters away from my door)
OK, let's us look at the facts: the first bus leaves Brugge at 3.15. At night. Explanation: to be in time at Charleroi to catch the first flight.
Hold on, there is no train at this time. Unfair competition I would say. Secondly: do we want busses in our city at 3 am?

Fact:
Bruges has maintained the image that they look for quality tourism.
The impression I have now is that a tourist who comes/goes on a Ryanair flight in the middle of the night ( to have cheap seats) is not a quality tourist. This person will spend nothing in our city, at most a pitta or another cheap snack, or even worse, just a sandwich from the inner city supermarket. He doesn't want to stay over, nope, he will wait for the bus untill 3.15 am. What a joke.

I do really hope that this iniative dies within some weeks or months. It is no good for my city.
I am not welcoming cheap charlies. And the only other passengers who would use this service are Polish labour workers who compete with low skilled workers as hotel room cleaners, waiters, ...
This kind of tourists just is a nuissance. Stay away. Don't demand all kind of services for which you don't want to pay.
Employment in Bruges depends for 60% on tourism, directly and indirectly. Such 4 extra busses a day is just an extra burden. We don't need it, that is sure.
And it is not good for anybody, not even for the cheap charlies. Staying up until 3.15 is unhealthy. You skip a night.
Just don't do it.

Acid-drop · Post by **Acid-drop** » 18 Oct 2007, 18:24

We want only rich tourists ! :)
what a joke :)
you are a jole :)))

when i go to bruges from Liege, i eat a Liege waffle and drink Jupiler, that's evil, dont do that man ! you're insane or what !

Enough jokes, i'm quite happy that unrich student from everywhere in europe are now able to visit one of the most beautiful city of europe. Ryanair is making things possible for normal people and that's quite good.

LX-LGX · Post by **LX-LGX** » 18 Oct 2007, 19:47

regi wrote:As a born and raised Brugian, I have some thoughts about this initiative. I read the article and saw that it was defended by JM Bogaert, responsable for tourism. Was he drunk again when he supported this project? (he came in hard contact once with the local police when he didn't want to give his driving licence after smelling and looking, and actually being very drunk - 500 meters away from my door). OK, let's us look at the facts: the first bus leaves Brugge at 3.15. At night. Explanation: to be in time at Charleroi to catch the first flight. Hold on, there is no train at this time. Unfair competition I would say. Secondly: do we want busses in our city at 3 am? Fact: Bruges has maintained the image that they look for quality tourism. The impression I have now is that a tourist who comes/goes on a Ryanair flight in the middle of the night ( to have cheap seats) is not a quality tourist. This person will spend nothing in our city, at most a pitta or another cheap snack, or even worse, just a sandwich from the inner city supermarket. He doesn't want to stay over, nope, he will wait for the bus untill 3.15 am. What a joke. I do really hope that this iniative dies within some weeks or months. It is no good for my city. I am not welcoming cheap charlies. And the only other passengers who would use this service are Polish labour workers who compete with low skilled workers as hotel room cleaners, waiters, ... This kind of tourists just is a nuissance. Stay away. Don't demand all kind of services for which you don't want to pay. Employment in Bruges depends for 60% on tourism, directly and indirectly. Such 4 extra busses a day is just an extra burden. We don't need it, that is sure. And it is not good for anybody, not even for the cheap charlies. Staying up until 3.15 is unhealthy. You skip a night.
Just don't do it.

I was waiting for a reply from someone from Bruges, as I also thaught this wasn't a good idea. I do hope the honorable city leader was drunk when he took this decision: the other possibility I can think off, is forbitten by law.

This will NOT attract more tourists to Bruges: this will only allow outgoing CRL-passengers from Bruges and surroundings (like Bachten de Kupe) to get in Charleroi more easily. And to get home more easily.

2h05min for a coach trip Bruges-CRL is impossible on weekdays between 07h-10h and 16h-19h, as there's no way to avoid the daily traffic jam on the Brussels Ring.

International tourists have access to cheap rail (Euro-rail) tickets. 38 euro for a return coach ticket is quite expensive.

Amazing to see that Bruges is going to support an airline who has dropped them few years ago (remember Ostend Airport was renamed Ostend/Bruges on request of one airline, who then dropped the route).

Seems 16% from the CRL-passengers visits Bruges. That's nice. But if Bruges wants to increase this, they should invest in worldwide promotion (f.e. through www.visitflanders.be), not by supporting one private coach company, one airport in another province and a few private airlines.

FLY4HOURS.BE · Post by **FLY4HOURS.BE** » 18 Oct 2007, 21:46

OK, let's us look at the facts: the first bus leaves Brugge at 3.15. At night. Explanation: to be in time at Charleroi to catch the first flight.
Hold on, there is no train at this time. Unfair competition I would say. Secondly: do we want busses in our city at 3 am?

Is one able catch the first flights with the train? NO
So where is the competition? in the daytime.

Will this improve the tourism of the city? Likely
Does a single bus at 3am break the image of a whole city? Unlikely

The problems with the traffic jams in Brussels is indeed a bit risky.
Perhaps they will take that into account and add an hour to that trip.

Established02 · Post by **Established02** » 18 Oct 2007, 22:05

LX-LGX wrote:2h05min for a coach trip Bruges-CRL is impossible on weekdays between 07h-10h and 16h-19h, as there's no way to avoid the daily traffic jam on the Brussels Ring.

Perhaps it has been stated that the bus would definitely go through Brussels (for an additional stop to allow more pax to board the bus).

However if there is no need for a stop in Brussels, then the ring of Brussels could possibly be avoided by the alternative route Brugge-Roeselare-Mouscron-Tournai-Mons-Charleroi. This may be a bit longer in terms of distance, but this route is hassle free in terms of traffic jams.

Ozzie1969 · Post by **Ozzie1969** » 18 Oct 2007, 22:14

regi wrote:As a born and raised Brugian, I have some thoughts about this initiative. I read the article and saw that it was defended by JM Bogaert, responsable for tourism.
http://www.brugge.be/internet/nl/bestuu ... hepen7.htm

Was he drunk again when he supported this project ? ( he came in hard contact once with the local police when he didn't want to give his driving licence after smelling and looking, and actually being very drunk - 500 meters away from my door)
OK, let's us look at the facts: the first bus leaves Brugge at 3.15. At night. Explanation: to be in time at Charleroi to catch the first flight.
Hold on, there is no train at this time. Unfair competition I would say. Secondly: do we want busses in our city at 3 am?

Fact:
Bruges has maintained the image that they look for quality tourism.
The impression I have now is that a tourist who comes/goes on a Ryanair flight in the middle of the night ( to have cheap seats) is not a quality tourist. This person will spend nothing in our city, at most a pitta or another cheap snack, or even worse, just a sandwich from the inner city supermarket. He doesn't want to stay over, nope, he will wait for the bus untill 3.15 am. What a joke.

I do really hope that this iniative dies within some weeks or months. It is no good for my city.
I am not welcoming cheap charlies. And the only other passengers who would use this service are Polish labour workers who compete with low skilled workers as hotel room cleaners, waiters, ...
This kind of tourists just is a nuissance. Stay away. Don't demand all kind of services for which you don't want to pay.
Employment in Bruges depends for 60% on tourism, directly and indirectly. Such 4 extra busses a day is just an extra burden. We don't need it, that is sure.
And it is not good for anybody, not even for the cheap charlies. Staying up until 3.15 is unhealthy. You skip a night.
Just don't do it.

Have you ever been at the station in Brugge at 3am? If so, you will know that there is not a living soul in sight.

Do you know that there are 51 buses AN HOUR that travel between the station and the city centre during the day (roughly 5 am to 9pm), with some buses continuing until just before midnight (or just before 2am on Friday and Saturday nights)? And you would complain about 4 buses extra? Maybe we should just ban all buses, coz obviously only "cheap charlies" ever use public transport. More room for "quality people" with their Mercedes or BMW! And by all means let's leave our city centre at night to the local "students" who think they are cool when they drink 17 beers in one night, throw up in the streets, leave their litter just about anywhere, and then go home on the earliest buses with their bloodshot eyes. How's that for clichés?

Maybe we should ban all those coaches that transport those British "charlies" from Zeebrugge or Ostend and back? All they do is buy a few boxes of chocolates and some beer, so who wants them? There's too many shops catering to this type of lower class tourists anyway, so it wouldn't hurt if most of these went out of business.

Regi, I think you should start a petition. Go round to all the shops in the city centre and ask for their support to keep these blasted extra 4 buses out of our quality city with its quality roads that would be deemed a disgrace in most third world countries. I'm sure these shopkeepers will welcome you with open arms to "keep out the Poles!".

Start an action group! Complain about being kept awake by 4 busloads full of inferior tourists! Get some advice from similar NIMBY's in Ostend or anywhere around Zaventem.

If all fails, wait for these cheap charlies to get out of the bus and hand them rattles, so they can warn quality locals like yourself that "the unwanted" are roaming the streets.

Or else you should just threaten to move to Knokke-Zoute. That'll teach 'em!

airazurxtror · Post by **airazurxtror** » 19 Oct 2007, 10:33

My first thought was that the coach is intended for the people of Brugge and surrounding area, in order to help them go and catch a FR (or other) flight at CRL.
You hear quite a lot of people at CRL speak Nederlands, some are Dutch, but most are Belgian (I couldn't tell from what province exactly).

regi · Post by **regi** » 19 Oct 2007, 10:52

to Ozzie: we don't need the extra tourists. We have plenty already and we can be choosy. Why do we have to pay directly/indirectly for those extra tourists who spend almost nothing?
We don't have to lower our standards, we should look upwards.
I know that there are already many busses, so why add more?
And if there is already noise by night strollers, why put time and effort in bringing some extra busloads of them?
What is the good thing about it?

airazurxtror · Post by **airazurxtror** » 19 Oct 2007, 11:07

regi wrote:to Ozzie: we don't need the extra tourists. We have plenty already and we can be choosy. Why do we have to pay directly/indirectly for those extra tourists who spend almost nothing?
We don't have to lower our standards, we should look upwards.
I know that there are already many busses, so why add more?
And if there is already noise by night strollers, why put time and effort in bringing some extra busloads of them?

That contempt for Ryanair customers is rather insulting. You wouldn't dare tell the same towards handicaped/black/arab/Jew people, but towards Ryanair users, it's ok ?
I didn't know people from Brugge (or at least a few of them) were so narrow-minded, looking after money only. Why don't you post guards (with dogs) at the city gates, to let in only rich enough visitors ?

Comet · Post by **Comet** » 19 Oct 2007, 11:50

It's a pity there is no direct rail connection between Brugge and Brussels Airport. It is a nightmare when you have loads of luggage having to change trains in Brussels, a through train to the airport would be very popular!

Post by **sn26567** » 19 Oct 2007, 11:53

Comet wrote:It's a pity there is no direct rail connection between Brugge and Brussels Airport.

It is even more a pity that Charleroi Airport has to wait so long before getting a rail connection and a train station. From Brussels Airport you can already reach a large number of destinations (except perhaps to the Southeast of Belgium: Liège, Namur, Charleroi).

LX-LGX · Post by **LX-LGX** » 19 Oct 2007, 12:14

trains to/from BRU:
http://www.brusselsairport.be/en/parkin ... from/train

Antwerpen (downtown, not the airport) will finally be connected to BRU within few years: the project is called "Northern Diabolo".

Comet · Post by **Comet** » 20 Oct 2007, 18:41

sn26567 wrote:
Comet wrote:It's a pity there is no direct rail connection between Brugge and Brussels Airport.
It is even more a pity that Charleroi Airport has to wait so long before getting a rail connection and a train station. From Brussels Airport you can already reach a large number of destinations (except perhaps to the Southeast of Belgium: Liège, Namur, Charleroi).

I would have thought that most people in Brugge who have flown there have come through BRU (people from the US, many Spanish people, Italians, Scandinavians, Brits etc).

The train back is the worst part of the journey because you have to get on in Brugge with all your luggage, then dash off at Brussels, then try to find the airport platform and then load all your luggage onto the train again. Direct connections from the main cities to the airport would be very popular I would have thought, that's the case with trains in the UK which run to airports (like MAN).

I think that all airports should be well connected by public transport if they are to reach their full passenger potential. That goes for ANR, BRU and Charleroi and Liege. Many people who go to airports do not drive there themselves.

pressman · Post by **pressman** » 20 Oct 2007, 19:31

it's funny how the maltese , french , italians etc have done research to suggest that FR Pax are amongst the highest spending Pax in Europe , there was also a recent study done by an independent organisation to suggest that a higher % of FR pax are from the higher income bracket - in comparision to BAirways there were a higher % of these Pax . A lot of Pax are travelling to second home close to these destinations

Don't be such bigots .