Train from Brussels to Brugge

Do you need to have reservations or is there always seats available?

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You CANNOT reserve; local trains are like buses and metros, tickets are always available but whether you get a seat or not depends on how many other people get on! I have had to stand between Bruxelles-Central and Ghent (30 minutes) on that line, and as the final destination for Brugge trains is at the coast (Oostende, Knokke, Blankenberge), on sunny weekends and public holidays some trains can be very full (but at least the train moves, unlike the cars on the motorway when there are traffic jams to and from the seaside!).

Your chances of getting a seat can be improved by going first class or getting on at the first station possible in Brussels which is Gare du Midi; trains stop subsequently at Gare centrale and Gare du Nord and of course on the way out to Ghent and Brugge most people will be getting on, not off.

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Thanks.

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Hm, not totally correct...

1. groups can reserve seats. Individual passengers don%26#39;t, except on the Thalys-trains (high-speed trains between Paris and Brussels, some of them continue to Gent, Brugge and Oostende) but they%26#39;re more expensive. Except if you come from Paris with them.

2. at the end of a working day (between 16:00 and 18:00) trains are mostly full and it is possible you have no seat till Gent.

Same problem on sunny (week-end) days in the morning / before noon because indeed a lot of people go the sea-side...

Tip: go to the end of the platform, most chance for sitting-places!

3. all trains from Brussels to Brugge passes the 3 main stations of Brussels: North, Central and Midi (in this order). So during busy hours, go to Nord if you can choose.

If you arrive at Brussels Airport: take the train to the city and switch at Brussels Nord (not at Brussels Midi like they recommend).

More information at http://www.b-rail.be/nat/E/index.php

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Yes sorry I got the order of the stations wrong for trains leaving Brussels for Brugge (I had just been telling someone about the airport trains where the order is the opposite!). However, the above post is also not entirely correct. The question is headed %26quot;train from Brussels to Brugge%26quot; and there are NO Thalys trains (THA in the b-rail timetable) on that line, therefore the information about reservations on Thalys, while correct, is irrelevant. It is impossible to reach Gent, Brugge or Oostende on a Thalys train: if arriving by Thalys from Paris (or Aachen, Cologne, Frankfurt, Amsterdam) it is necessary to change in Brussels (or in the case of Amsterdam, Antwerpen-Berchem) to a local, non-high-speed train.

The fastest trains from Brussels on the line to Gent, Brugge and Oostende are InterCity (IC) trains, which reach their destinations faster because they have limited stops, not because they achieve speeds of over 250 km/h as Thalys and Eurostar are designed to do - even if they can in fact only do so when running on high-speed tracks, which at the moment are largely limited to France!

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OK, I dislike inaccuracies so have to correct myself again: on looking closely at the Thalys brochure for 10/12/06 to 31/3/07, there are indeed a few Thalys trains from Paris that continue (even if not at high speeds) to Gent, Brugge and Oostende, but it would seem this is still irrelevant to the question, as there doesn%26#39;t seem to be any way of booking them unless you are starting from Paris. The trains in question are those that leave Paris at 7.55, 10.55 and 18.25 and Bxl-Midi at 9.36, 12.36 and 19.57/58, but these departures are not shown in the b-rail timetable when you check for departures from Bxl-Midi to Brugge: in which case you still can%26#39;t make a reservation for this specific trip.

In any case, even if it were to be(come) possible to book the Thalys to Brugge from Brussels, I would not recommend doing so, because (as in the case of Thalys to Amsterdam) until there is a high-speed track, it would be more expensive, there is no speed advantage (the Thalys trains mentioned take 52/56 mins between Bxl-Midi and Brugge, IC takes 52/53 mins!) and InterCity trains serve other Brussels stations than Gare du Midi and don%26#39;t require reservations (other than, yes, groups of at least 15 people travelling on a special group ticket... ).

So I would say my original answer stands: no as an individual, couple, family etc., you don%26#39;t require reservations to travel by train from Brussels to Brugge, and seats may or may not be available on the train you take.

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