During the first quarter of 2023, the federal railway police observed 1,323 incidents at South Station, or about fifteen per day. That is almost three times as much as in the other major Brussels stations, North in Schaerbeek and Central in the center. 518 and 466 incidents were registered in both stations respectively.
Compared to the Flemish cities of Antwerp and Ghent, the figures are high. There were just under three hundred incidents in each of those stations in the first three months of last year (287 and 277 respectively).
In fact, more incidents took place in the Brussels stations than in all Flemish stations combined: in the first quarter of last year there were 2,425 registered criminal offenses in Brussels stations, compared to around 1,850 in Flanders.
‘Three largest stations’
NMBS spokesperson Dimitri Temmerman qualifies the figures somewhat: “These three stations (Brussels South, Brussels North and Brussels Central) are also the three largest in the country, with the most passengers. It is logical that more incidents occur.”
In this context, Temmerman points out another disturbing trend: aggression against NMBS staff is increasing. Last year, approximately 2,998 incidents took place in which rail employees were victims of aggression. Other common facts on and around the track include thefts, drug-related facts and violations of immigration law.
