Royal green light for the 2026-2030 Infrabel-SNCB convention for Belgian rail

The Royal Decree of October 15, 2026, approves the transport convention between Infrabel and the SNCB concerning public service missions, published in the Belgian Official Gazette of October 29, 2026, under reference C − 2026/007768 (p. 58192). The text, signed by King Philippe and countersigned by the Minister of Mobility J.-L. Crucke, brings the convention into force on January 1, 2027. It is a 112-page document that binds the railway operator and the infrastructure manager for five years.

The convention is concluded on the basis of Article 163quater of the Law of March 21, 1991, regarding the reform of certain public economic enterprises, and approved pursuant to Article 163quinquies, § 3, of the same law. The file was supported by several successive opinions and agreements:

• opinion A-2026-01-S from the Federal Transport Regulation Agency (ART) of January 13, 2026;
• agreement of the board of directors of the SNCB on December 5, 2025, and that of Infrabel on December 16, 2025;
• opinion of the Inspector of Finance of August 20, 2026, and agreement of the Minister of Budget of September 24, 2026.

Four conditions set by the King

The royal approval is not unconditional. It is subject to four explicit reservations:

• compliance with superior legal standards, in particular the Railway Code, its implementing decrees, and the Law of March 21, 1991;
• the absence of any new financial commitment from the State towards Infrabel and the SNCB;
• the conclusion of implementing agreements within the framework of the convention, without them requiring approval by the King;
• the guarantee of equal treatment between the SNCB and other operators active on the Belgian railway markets, notably via the coordination mechanism provided for in Article 26/3 of the Railway Code.

Punctuality: a threshold set at six minutes

The convention organizes cooperation around five areas: the coordination of investments, including reception infrastructures; the transport plan and capacity offer; the punctuality of national passenger trains; real-time management, including incident management; and passenger information. Each area has a bilateral monitoring body, overseen by a steering committee and by the TAM (Top Account Meeting), which brings together the leaders of the two companies.

Regarding punctuality, the text locks in the measurement method: passenger traffic performance is measured at 6 minutes, and a train with a delay of less than or equal to 5 minutes 59 seconds upon arrival at its final destination is considered punctual; beyond that, it is late. The count is based on measurements at 111 points across the network. Infrabel and the SNCB jointly manage a Punctuality Improvement Program (P.I.P.), with a three-tier governance structure: DISCOP (every three months), IOP (monthly), and weekly PUMA meetings. Connections that are structurally more than 5% below the annual target—so-called “sick” relations—must be systematically analyzed.

Transport plan, stations and EMMA screens

The transport plan is the responsibility of the SNCB, which prepares its preliminary draft in year N-2, officially consults Infrabel in year N-1 regarding the robustness of the train paths, and then submits the project to the FPS Mobility and Transport in December for an opinion before approval by the Council of Ministers. The plan is revisable in cases of force majeure, works, industrial action, or operational contingencies, and is subject to a triennial adaptation process.

Regarding passenger information, Infrabel must include in its multi-annual investment plan the amounts for hardware (screens, loudspeakers, servers) and the EMMA software. The infrastructure manager owns the screens installed in SNCB stations and provides operational support for the system, while real-time traffic data flows via the DEX Contract. The text also extends the Autonomous Accessibility Masterplan, which aims for a specific number of stations accessible without assistance by 2032, with stations classified into three categories (Large, Medium, Small).

The agreement is concluded for a period of five years. In the absence of a new agreement entering into force before the deadline, the King provisionally determines its content, following the opinion of the ART. For rail users, the stake is direct: the text does not create new budgetary means, but it makes obligations of means regarding punctuality, the transport plan, and station information enforceable as of January 1, 2027.