nmbs.be Reviews 507

Totally incompetent !!!! Do not plan to use this joke of a service !!!!!! Use another mode of transport. It is totally unreliable. Every time I fly to Brussels there is an issue .

I never thought you can hate a brand until I got to know Belgian Trains. This company, clearly run by a bunch of incompetent individuals, makes my life a living hell on a daily basis. With random delays, cancellations, and a new favourite - skipping over stops, they always make sure that you never get to your destination on time. And as a cherry on top - they will charge you an absolute fortune for the train journey. But hey, these are the things you can do when you are a monopoly I guess. If I could take literally any other public transport service - I would. Unfortunately we are stuck with this bunch of baboons who were somehow trusted to run a NATIONAL train service. Good luck to everyone traveling with them and I hope to live long enough to see the fall of NMBS with my own two eyes and to get to celebrate this joyous occasion.

Horrible. Extremely unreliable. Trains that are cancelled without notice, the app not even showing it causing further harm. Strikes 24/7, delays 24/7, absolute shitshow

Everything is wrong! u pay for first class , then all kind of people can sit there without paying since no one controls.
Treins dirty ,old,u have a feeling u are travelling in the 70s.
Disgusting toilets!
Always late, always on strike, always something with them!
Why dont u improve your service people? i travel a lot all ovee the world. your service and your trains are 0!

Always bad experience. Always i have a trouble specially when im travelling to the airport.
Too expensive and bad experience

30/08/2025 12:37 train from Antwerp to Amsterdam cancelled without notification. Not as a push, not even in the app. We almost missed our flight because of this. No staff on the platform to inform traveler's of the cancelled train. Had to go from 22 to the top for info then back down and run to catch another train. With full suitcases and child in tow. Staff was impolite and indifferent. Thanks, clowns.

Disappointing Train Service – Overpriced and Unreliable

The train service is simply not worth the price. It’s overpriced for the quality it offers—unreliable, often dirty, and lacking any real distinction between first and second class, except for the cost. Both classes are absurdly expensive!

Punctuality is a major issue. Trains are frequently late, sometimes even at the very last minute before their scheduled arrival. The delays are so common that when a train is actually on time, it feels like a rare and unexpected relief.

During weekday mornings, trains are packed like sardine cans—clearly, there aren’t enough running to accommodate demand. The company also seems understaffed, as strikes happen more than once a year, reflecting employee dissatisfaction.

While replacement buses are sometimes provided during disruptions, they are often unavailable when incidents occur suddenly, leaving passengers stranded without alternative transport.

I understand that operating a train network is complex and challenging, but even with that in mind, the service remains overpriced, overcrowded, and unclean.

Another major issue is poor mobile network coverage. Most lines and stations have little to no signal, making mobile internet unreliable. At these prices, I would expect ultra-fast, unlimited WiFi on every train and station!

I even did the math: the cost per kilometer is shockingly close to what it would take to drive a small car. How does that even make sense? Public transportation is supposed to be an affordable and sustainable alternative to car travel. At these prices, why would anyone choose a slow, dirty, and overcrowded train over a faster, more private car? In some cases, train seats are even stained with blood—completely unacceptable.

For a developed country like Belgium, this level of service is disappointing.

That being said, there are a few positives: the staff do their jobs well, the online systems are modern and efficient, and when trains actually run on time, the experience is decent.

However, improvements are badly needed. Even second-class seats should have clean, replaceable headrest covers to prevent the spread of lice, mites, and bacteria. The fact that not even first class offers this speaks volumes about the overall standards.

Belgium deserves better.

NMBS is the worst company ever. Seriously. If I know I have to take the train for work, I know in advance my day will be partially ruined. If you can, avoid them!

Things you can expect:
- Expensive tickets for shitty service;
- Your train will be late 90% of the time. It's a guarantee. This will range from a couple of minutes to up to an hour;
- Stops or trains will be cancelled ad hoc without notice and NMBS does not care about offering a solution. You can figure it out yourself (can you imagine going to a place 60 miles from home for work and the train back home is cancelled without notice?);
- The newer trains have terrible seats. The old trains are like taking the train in the 1930s, they're old, loud and digusting. If you're lucky you can even smell the engine (or whatever that smell is);
- This morning the lights in the train were flashing on and off like some low budget horror movie. I had to close my eyes and put my hands in front of my eyes not to get a headache. The conductor was nowhere to be found (probably hiding from Chucky). You would think they check these things before leaving.

Even better is NMBS doesn't care at all. They have no respect for their customers.

So do you like to pay for an expensive ticket just to be late and frustrated, while not knowing if the train will arrive on time (or even just arrive at your stop at all), or not knowing you will get back home on time (or at all)? Then choose NMBS!

If you haven't used NMBS before and are thinking about doing so: Just DON'T. Look for something else. Anything will do. I rather sit in a traffic jam for 1 hour every day for the rest of my life than ever setting foot on an NMBS train again.

Tbf my experience couldn’t be worse… Trains not on time (they got fined for it), horrible customer support (sorry to the people working there), those 1 year long subscriptions do not work at the start, way too expensive and i think 80% of the people working at nmbs hate their job

Unreliable service. I purchased a ticket from Gent St. Pieters to Zaventem Airport a day in advance, expecting to arrive at the airport by 5:30 AM as scheduled. However, on the day of travel, the train unexpectedly changed its route, resulting in a delayed arrival at 6:00 AM. This kind of unpredictability is unacceptable—people need to be able to rely on public transportation, especially when we’re paying for it and it’s not cheap.

Unreliable, always late. Customer service only has excuses, never a solution.

this is the worst company to ever exist. I've never had ONE single day where everything went smoothly. every train is always late which makes me miss my next train.

I give one star because I couldn't give zero.
How can this be the train system of the 'capital of Eu'.
NMBS is a s..t company. Who are the brainless dimwits who run this s...t show?.
Trains mostly come late or cancelled, making one miss their connecting trains, thereby getting late for appointments, work, or just getting home late after a hard day's work.
A lot of the review's are negative but these a..h..l don't seem to care.
We passengers need to boycott NMBS for a week, and let them feel the pains we have when they ruin our trips.

No respect for passengers at all. Always late or cancelled and they laugh at your struggle due to their incompetence.

OMG this is the MOST unreliable public transport company ever! And for a 'developed' country huhhh? You wait for a train and then on the screen it shows +7 min delay. A few minutes later +13 then +18 then +20 then all of a sudden, after standing there an extra 30 min, the screen shows "Rijdt niet" and you know what's funny? There's no other alternative. You have to just take it and do what you will do. AVOID if you're in a rush to get anywhere. A huge shame.

Expect to not even depart from the trainstation and wait for more than 6 months for your money back (even though they say it takes an average of 20 days).
Classic!

Worst service of whole Europe. Taking the train for 6-7 hours is normal in Belgium. They get cancelled, delayed, replaced by busses and so on. People not friendly. Bad public. And after all this, still need to pay for it. Conclusion: Take the car.

Incompetent company, terrible management, logistics and problem solving. They do NOT know how to properly redirect late trains, hell they announce that the following 5 stops were cancelled, whilst the doors were already closed and the train was moving! As a native I recommend ANYTHING BUT NMBS, don't take the train. I'd rather take my car anytime over the train. They are literal trash sometimes.