Eurostar - Any Station In Belgium Tickets

[Mutant Lemming]

Am just wondering if it is possible for us to use a St.Pancras to Any Station in Belgium ticket to travel to Brussels Airport station, meet some friends arriving by plane and continue on with them on to Liege ?

 

[30907]

Am just wondering if it is possible for us to use a St.Pancras to Any Station in Belgium ticket to travel to Brussels Airport station, meet some friends arriving by plane and continue on with them on to Liege ?

Their FAQs on the topic say:
If you're travelling on to Brussels Airport (Brussels Airport-Zaventem station), you’ll have to pay a €5.25 Diabolo supplement each way, which you can do at belgianrail.be, in a Belgian station or on board your connecting train. Find out more at belgianrail.be.

Break of Journey shouldn't be an issue in Belgium.

 

[island]

Breaking your journey is in principle fine, but if you want to exit and re-enter Brussels Airport station you’ll need to pay the Diabolo supplement twice, €10.50 in total.

If you are in a position to wait for your friends inside the ticket barriers you won’t need to pay.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Thanks for the info - the people we are meeting aren't very good at navigating round airports and stations so I'll probably have to cough up the supplement.

 

[paddington]

Breaking your journey is in principle fine, but if you want to exit and re-enter Brussels Airport station you’ll need to pay the Diabolo supplement twice, €10.50 in total.

Can I get a second opinion on this statement? I thought you were not really supposed to break your journey in Belgium except to change trains.

Also, when you arrive at Midi, does the eurostar ticket allow you to travel to Central and back, before going onwards to Ostend? (Admittedly I doubt anyone ever checks tickets between Central and Midi)

 

[swt class 450]

If you want to save some money and avoid the rip off surcharge (which seems to be very common on trains at Airports all around the World) then you can take a train to Zaventem and then walk from there to the Airport. It is only a 20 minute walk. If you don't mind walking then this is a good option. Your "Any Belgium Station" ticket is valid to and from Zaventem station.

 

[paddington]

I'm not going to the airport, I was just wondering about the claim regarding break of journey.

I read elsewhere that with regular Belgian tickets, once you alight from a train (unless you need to change) the ticket's validity is ended, and you have to take the shortest or fastest route (which from Brussels to Liege avoids the airport station).

Posters on other forums seemed to believe that the Any Belgian Station works in the same way - that would mean you can't get on and off multiple trains all day even if you are heading in one direction, as the conductor would know because they wouldn't have seen you immediately after leaving Brussels (when they typically do checks).

 

[Mutant Lemming]

As a further addition it is our eventual intent to travel on to Maastricht - are the any Belgian station tickets valid on the NS service from Liege as far as the border and is it possible to obtain an tickets in advance for the border to Maastricht section to avoid breaking the journey ?

 

[Spoorslag '70]

As a further addition it is our eventual intent to travel on to Maastricht - are the any Belgian station tickets valid on the NS service from Liege as far as the border and is it possible to obtain an tickets in advance for the border to Maastricht section to avoid breaking the journey ?

The services between Liege and Maastricht are operated by NMBS/SNCB/NGBE. You would need a ticket from the last station in Belgium (Visé/Wezet) to Maastricht (4.1€), available online, at any TVM, at any booking office and from any guard in Belgium (with a 7.5€ extra, which is not quite worth it).

If anyone of your party is under the age of 26, it can be cheaper to get a Go Pass 1 Maastricht, valid for a single journey from any station to Maastricht for €8.2. Finally, to avoid paying the Diabolo fee, you could get a bus to/from the airport from Brussel-Noord, Zaventem or Leuven with a flat rate of €3 (or 1.8€ when using the De Lijn app) or - as has been suggested - walk from Zaventem to the airport.

I'm not sure on the exact rules regarding a break of journey on the any Belgian station ticket, so it might be good to contact NMBS/SNCB per Twitter/E-Mail etc. to be sure.

EDIT suggests a Railpass https://www.belgiantrain.be/nl/tickets-and-railcards/railpass for 77€, valid for 10 journey between any Belgian station, which can be used by multiple passengers at a time (just bring a pen with you!)

The conditions of that ticket suggest that you can break your journey at any station on the shortest route between the two stations, which - if applicable to the any Belgian station Eurostar ticket would include Brussel-Noord, Zaventem and Leuven (excluding the irrelevant local stations) and - when choosing Wezet as your destination even Liege-G. This would also require a ticket from Wezet to Maastricht.

My idea would be to ditch the any Belgian station and travel on the following tickets:
Brussel-Zuid>Brussel-Noord (included in a Eurostar ticket to Brussel-Zuid)
Brussel-Noord>Brussels-Airport-Zaventem on a De Lijn bus (3€)
Brussels-Airport-Zaventem>Wezet on a Railpass+Diabolo per person (alternatively walking to Zaventem/taking a bus to Leuven or Zaventem...) - the price per person for that leg - excluding the Diabolo fee would be 7.70€ (any remaining journeys on the pass can be used during a year from the date of purchase)
Wezet>Maastricht 4.10€

I believe this would be the easiest solution, compared to breaking your journey at Zaventem station and walking back and forth.

 

[eastwestdivide]

From a PDF, downloadable from the SNCB site at https://www.belgiantrain.be/fr/tickets-and-railcards/standard-ticket

for standard tickets:

PUIS-JE FAIRE UNE HALTE DURANT MON VOYAGE ?
Oui. Vous pouvez interrompre* votre voyage dans n’importe quelle gare* ou point d’arrêt* situé sur votre itinéraire le plus court en kilomètres, et ce, dans le sens de votre destination.

My rough translation:
CAN I MAKE A STOP DURING MY JOURNEY?
Yes. You can break your journey at any station or calling point on your shortest itinerary in km, and in the direction of your destination.

 

[paddington]

From a PDF, downloadable from the SNCB site at https://www.belgiantrain.be/fr/tickets-and-railcards/standard-ticket

Merci. But the Eurostar ticket is not a standard ticket?

 

[eastwestdivide]

Merci. But the Eurostar ticket is not a standard ticket?

Nearest thing I could find to the Eurostar ABS ticket.
But useful to know regardless.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

The services between Liege and Maastricht are operated by NMBS/SNCB/NGBE. You would need a ticket from the last station in Belgium (Visé/Wezet) to Maastricht (4.1€), available online, at any TVM, at any booking office and from any guard in Belgium (with a 7.5€ extra, which is not quite worth it).

If anyone of your party is under the age of 26, it can be cheaper to get a Go Pass 1 Maastricht, valid for a single journey from any station to Maastricht for €8.2. Finally, to avoid paying the Diabolo fee, you could get a bus to/from the airport from Brussel-Noord, Zaventem or Leuven with a flat rate of €3 (or 1.8€ when using the De Lijn app) or - as has been suggested - walk from Zaventem to the airport.

I'm not sure on the exact rules regarding a break of journey on the any Belgian station ticket, so it might be good to contact NMBS/SNCB per Twitter/E-Mail etc. to be sure.

EDIT suggests a Railpass https://www.belgiantrain.be/nl/tickets-and-railcards/railpass for 77€, valid for 10 journey between any Belgian station, which can be used by multiple passengers at a time (just bring a pen with you!)

The conditions of that ticket suggest that you can break your journey at any station on the shortest route between the two stations, which - if applicable to the any Belgian station Eurostar ticket would include Brussel-Noord, Zaventem and Leuven (excluding the irrelevant local stations) and - when choosing Wezet as your destination even Liege-G. This would also require a ticket from Wezet to Maastricht.

My idea would be to ditch the any Belgian station and travel on the following tickets:
Brussel-Zuid>Brussel-Noord (included in a Eurostar ticket to Brussel-Zuid)
Brussel-Noord>Brussels-Airport-Zaventem on a De Lijn bus (3€)
Brussels-Airport-Zaventem>Wezet on a Railpass+Diabolo per person (alternatively walking to Zaventem/taking a bus to Leuven or Zaventem...) - the price per person for that leg - excluding the Diabolo fee would be 7.70€ (any remaining journeys on the pass can be used during a year from the date of purchase)
Wezet>Maastricht 4.10€

I believe this would be the easiest solution, compared to breaking your journey at Zaventem station and walking back and forth.

Thanks for your response. We may re-route a little as a result. Thanks again.