News / UPDATED: Belgian rail strike set to bring more chaos to ports

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European supply chain operators are bracing for strikes across Belgium’s railways next week, heaping further pressure on the region’s ports, still contending with major disruption.

Following government approval of a bill that purportedly hobbles union power over major decisions taken by the operator, the  CGSP Cheminots/ACOD Spoor union confirmed strikes would commence at 10pm on Sunday and run until Saturday 31 January, .

However, staff have until this evening to indicate their level of participation in the action – rail operator SNCB has told local media it expected some services to run throughout the week.

Public affairs manager at Evofenedex Godfried Smit told The Loadstar: “After completing this the full scope of the strike will become clear. It is also interesting to see if there is a difference in the willingness to strike among the carriers.

“Generally speaking, a strike like this (for a long duration) does harm the image of rail cargo transport. Reliability is considered to be low in general. The appetite for shippers to shift to rail is certainly low for the moment. The EU ambitions for a considerable growth in rail cargo transport have by far not be met.”

Confirmation that the action is to go ahead will only add further pain to the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam, which have been struggling with major congestion and delays since the turn of the year.

Kuehne + Nagel’s Seaexplorer alert map lists the Belgian gateway as struggling with “heavily disrupted operations”, noting yard utilisation “remains high… with elevated occupancy across dry, reefer, and empty stacks”.

While noting truck turnaround times remain “efficient”, at 25-30 minutes at the Nordzee Terminal and 50-55 minutes at the Europa Terminal, others have warned that should the rail strike go ahead, these conditions would lead to more pressure on road networks.

Director general of Clecat Nicolette van der Jagt said the concern now was about the impact of the strike on wider European supply chains, as the Belgian port connected with inland markets in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and beyond.

Ms van der Jagt told The Loadstar: “If rail services are significantly reduced, the immediate effects will be felt first at the ports and then ripple outward across connecting supply chains. At ports such as Antwerp-Bruges and Zeebrugge, rail freight is important for moving containers and bulk cargo inland. The risk is that containers remain longer in terminals, yards fill up more quickly, and pressure builds on alternative modes.

“Missed slots in Belgium can translate into congestion or knock-on delays elsewhere, particularly on already busy cross-border corridors. So congestion will inevitably spill over into Rotterdam and Hamburg, which are tightly interconnected with Antwerp via short-sea, barge and rail services.”

It all comes as the region has been striving to get back to normal after reduced productivity and fluctuating delays due to labour actions, weather disruptions and shifting seasonal peaks. Indeed, winter weather caused chaos across Antwerp, Hamburg, and Rotterdam, with the German gateway still struggling with “severe” weather-related container backlogs.

According to K+N, action at Hamburg “will further reduce capacity and intensify delays”, with its yard utilisation surpassing 80% as a consequence of an imbalance between discharges and truck availability.

Should the rail strike go ahead, cargo owners will likely turn to trucks as the only alternative, with congestion exceeding two days along Antwerp’s inland waterways, compounding the situation for those seeking haulage capacity at Europe’s other ports.