Consequently,
Train controller will prosecuted saying:
Greet in two languages can be punished? Nevertheless, In Belgium, the answer is yes. Consequently, Last November. However, a head of the SNCB – the Belgian railway company – was the subject of a complaint filed by a traveler for having, on October 7, 2024, praised passengers in Dutch and French while this train between Mechelen and Brussels was in the Flemish region, in Vilvorde.
However. Furthermore, the rules stipulate that the announcements made by the controllers must only be made in Dutch when the train is in this Dutch -speaking part of Belgium. Consequently, The complaint was recently deemed founded by the permanent linguistic control committee, reports BFM Business.
A sustained controller – Train controller will prosecuted saying
“The laws on the employment of languages in administrative matters are laws of public order. ” said the Commission, specifying that “customer orientation does not constitute sufficient motivation not to comply”.
In detail. the linguistic rules specify that in Flanders, the announcements of the controllers as well as the information screens in the cars must only be in Dutch. You just have Brussels that this information can be communicated in both languages. For trains to Brussels Airport, the train controller will prosecuted saying announcements are even made in Dutch, French, German and English.
These strict provisions, which reflect the deep division of the country, are not unanimous, however. ILYASS ALBA. the accused edge chief, had received support from the SNCB owner and even from the minister who resigned from mobility, Georges Gilkinet. The latter had called for more flexibility in the application of linguistic laws.
“A train moves”
However, these supports were not enough. On Facebook, where he was followed by 53,000 people, Ilyass Alba regretted that the complaint was deemed admissible. He sees it as “the sign of a closure of mind on the part of a small Flemish elite”. The agent once again wanted to be able to accommodate customers. travelers in both languages, for the sake of respect for French speakers in transit, openness to the world and detachment from the unilingual past of Belgium.
“It’s time to change this law!” A train moves, “he concluded. The controller therefore intends to continue to say Goeiedag (hello in Dutch) and hello in the stations of Flemish cities. If the complaint came to succeed, the chief of board and the SNCB could be sanctioned with a warning. The company has already chosen not to sanction its employee.
Further reading: Mons: closed for almost 10 years, the Waux-Hall campsite finally sees tourists return – In Brussels, the N-VA requires being at the Table of Brussels negotiations, and the MR initiative right in the wall – Padel – Jérôme Peeters is preparing to compete in the euro with Belgium for the fourth time: “We are targeting a place in the final phase” – “They terrorized my children”: around fifty trade unionists carried out an action at the home of Yvan Verougstraete against the modification of night work – About fifty trade unionists in front of the home of Yvan Verougstraete: the tone rises, his children “terrorized” according to the president of the commitments.