Sncb Reviews 

In November and December of 2025, I twice mistakenly failed to purchase train tickets through the app, but I thought I had successfully bought them...because the app makes “added to basket” look like “ticket bought “, the notice of “added to basket” is full screen after selected the trip, and this screen will stay there for some seconds… when the internet is in slow it will stuck there…The designer of this app is a complete idiot! The ticket purchasing process is far too cumbersome and complicated, State-owned monopolies without competition are all garbage.

Extremely expensive. Poor service. No wi-fi, no network connection, no power sockets. Lots of cancellations/strikes and delays. The trains going to the airport have no place for luggages (resulting in lot of queues and people having no seat). It gets you from point A to B but not for the price you pay. I am using it only because I have no other option.

SNCB APP does not has any send or share options for the ticket bought via online app from iPhone mobile phone. I am buying tickets for my kids but there is not any option to send/share this ticket. I need to take screenshots and send them. And SNCB app is not user friendly.

Zero stars should be invented for this experience.

I foolishly decided to take a train from Bruxelles Nord to Central to enjoy Belgian culture before my trip back to London. However, what should've been a 4 minute seamless journey where we would've barely needed to sit down turned into an hourlong nightmare.

The train was boiling when we boarded, with air conditioning seemingly a foreign concept to the national operator of a Western European Nation. Upon entering a tunnel, it became apparent that no lighting was available on this train. I could only infer infer from the blasé attitude of fellow passengers that this is a common occurrence.

Unbelievably the train then stopped in complete darkness, with the guard walking up and down hopelessly. We were told to move to the one second class carriage where electricity was retained, and had to wait half an hour before we even got an update from the driver.

This update cleared up nothing, as we sat panicked at the growing prospect of missing our connection to London. The guard refused to allow us to alight, leaving us stranded.

The journey having taken ten times longer than it should have done, we finally got going, only to be informed we had to alight at Brussels central, too late to explore what I presume is wonderful Belgian cuisine, but just about enough time for us to run panicked to Brussels Midi.

We knew we were near by the smell of urine in the air, yet no signage in midi pointed us to Eurostar, and some staff were equally unhelpful. I travel solely through public transport, including fairly ambitious routes, but have never been let down like when trying to travel between two Western European Capital city stations on this line. Buses in Greece, shaky trains in southern rural Italy, and the outlands of Britain have never presented me anything as unbelievably farcical

Take the tram, or never go to Belgium at all.

Take the train to the airport and be sure you'll miss your flight. Never on time, not even trains going to the airport. Super expensive tickets for super bad service. They just don't care about passengers at all.

Train on strike in Amsterdam on June 6 - no communication, had to get a bus to Brussels at own cost, inability to get refund, doesn't recognise ticket number or IBAN code for Australia

Its unacceptable how it's as hot inside the train than outside. Having to deal an almost 30 degree temperature train for more than an hour for the price they offer is not okay. The quality of the train and service is also not great. Sometimes trains are hours late, cancelled and if you payed already for the train ticket, too bad, you'll have to pay for another one for different hours. All of this and they keep increasing their prices. Unacceptable.

High price tickets, very regular delays, customer experience is very poor. A painful experience.

Zero stars if possible. This company is worst. Many times delaying or canceling. Now change work route, never travel via Brussels again.

If i could give 0 stars I would! Either late, cancelled, too small for the needed capacity, stopping in the end of the stations making people run or on strike! Good luck making people get rid of cars! Thanks the gov for all the support lol !

just terrible, the worst train service i have ever seen, expensive and always on strike

They have no intention of fixing it, there are more strikes than working trains. Never trust it for airport trips

I am absolutely fed up with the appalling service provided by SNCB/NMBS. Their disrespect and incompetence are beyond comprehension. They are constantly late, and the strikes seem to happen every other week, leaving us, the passengers, stranded and inconvenienced. Communication is non-existent – you can never get a clear answer about delays or issues, and the information they provide is often misleading or nonexistent.

What's even more outrageous is their blatant disregard for rules. Smoking is prohibited on trains, yet it's a common sight to see people smoking right under the noses of staff, who do absolutely nothing about it. It's as if no one cares, and no one is willing to take responsibility for anything.

The situation at both Gare du Midi and Gare du Nord is another disaster. It's unsafe, with a constant feeling of insecurity. These stations are a breeding ground for all sorts of issues, and the lack of security is unacceptable. It's honestly shameful how SNCB/NMBS continues to operate in this manner, putting their passengers through unnecessary stress, discomfort, and danger. If you rely on their service, prepare to be constantly disappointed. They do not care about the people they are supposed to serve.

We are sick of strikes and delays. As a student it’s really important for me to be punctual. Even if I leave one hour early, I am still not confident I’ll be on time. I ended up multiple times getting in trouble for being late at school or even at work. We want change, we are not responsible for the source of the trouble, we just want to be on time. The Belgian government encourages us to take public transports in Brussels, but they are not even capable to be on time or even to show up.

Extremely frustrating that they’re often late. Unbelievable that this happens in a country like Belgium…

The worse services, if you can even call them that 😅 in Eastern Europe in the middle of nowhere, we have better train transport system that the capital of Belgium 🤣I live 27 km away from brussels, and in order to reach it I need to change 2 trains and two busses. Same thing with Antwerpen. No direct train and I'm 25 km away, still need to change two trains and it takes more than 1.5 hour. It's absolutely pathetic. Then the prices 🤦🤣, so high for this shitty service. You have no fast trains coming or going in most of your towns/villages/, while Belgium is so small, you would think building railways was done 200 years ago 🤣🤣while this is happening in the capital of Europe, Japan is releasing trains that go with 500 km/h 😅 sad, sad western Europe.

HORRIBLE: le service, retard, conditions….😤😤😤

Unfortunately a not a great experience. Booked a more expensive, first class ticket because - according to the website - I could change the reservation afterwards and I needed some flexibility for my business travel that hadn't fully been sorted. It turns out not to be possible so the money is down the drain as they can also not refund the ticket.

I can’t even mention any specifics about this company. Everywhere and anywhere you see gross incompetence. Never use them if you can

I don't know where to start
Every time, almost every time I need to go somewhere, the train is late, okay for 5-10 minutes, but for 50 minutes?????? What the hell?
Then we sat for an hour in the train at a stop where the air conditioning did not work and it was 30+++ outside
Every time I pay 20-30 € for a ticket and endure these inconveniences, the question is what am I paying for?