I originally come from a country that doesn't have any understanding of what public transportation should work like. So, my first impressions from the public transportation system in Belgium were extremely good. While I was looking for a job, I was staying in Gent and almost daily I used buses, trams and trains from Gent to various places in Belgium and back. Public transportation in Belgium consists of three major companies, all public at least to my knowledge.
- stib. This is the metropolitan public transportation system of Brussels. All busses, trams and metro lines belong to stib.
- sncb. This is for the entire train system network in Belgium.
- de-lijn. This is for the busses and trams outside Belgium. I'm not sure whether this company services the Walloon Brabant, but for the Flanders part I'm pretty sure that serves everything.
All of the above services provide something like a route planner. For moving in the Brussels area one can use the Google maps transportation integration which is absolutely great. The detail in Google maps but the printable version of a route is so good, that you can easily print it to paper or pdf and get it with you.
For door to door routes just use de-lijn, which calculates the best route from address to address. The problem with this route planner is that it uses another mechanism to display maps, which I would say that is not good.
In general you can find most of the required info on these sites. I would quickly explain things that I understood and found out on my own.
All networks have very good support for smart phones. Most of them have applications for iPhone and Android but since I have a Windows Phone os, I did my job really good with the sites for mobile devices.
Tickets for STIB cost 1.8 euro. This ticket is valid for one hour and a half for all mediums. There are also daily tickets and group tickets. Best thing about STIB is that the vending machines have also an English menu, which is more helpful than the one time I tried to ask a clerk.
Tickets for trains are a bit expensive. Gent to Brussels is around 8 euros when Gent to Luxembourg costs only around 21 euros. Mechelen to Brussels is around 4 euros. Buying tickets for the train is really easy, but always keep in mind that there might be a significant line of people in the queue. Until you get a grip on how the system work, just ask the clerk which train you should take, because it is not always clear.
There are different kinds of trains, which define the time needed to cover specific distances. There are trains that travel non-stop between major cities, trains that stop in towns and trains that stop everywhere. Also keep in mind, that the company provides first and second class service. I was really confused about it, so one time I sat in first class section and the ticket validator kindly explained me that first class wagons are marked with a "1" and second class with a "2". He also told me that first class is marked with an orange line. For me there is no significant difference that would make someone choose a first class ticket over the second one.
Tickets for De-Lijn can be bought in several ways. You can buy them from the driver, by sending an SMS or from De-Lijn stores. I think that I have also seen automatic vending machines in the center of Gent. Tickets from the driver are really expensive. In general, for De-Lijn the fair is based on the distance which is measured in zones. If you don't know the zones, just ask the driver and he will put it on the machine in front of him. One zone fairs normally costs 1.2 euros but you can buy cards that cost 9euros for ten single zone fairs. The problem with De-Lijn is that it is really difficult to buy these tickets, because the stores that sell them are mainly located in central places, like the train station, and also close relatively early. So, I suggest buying the 9 euros card.
There are also monthly cards, but I don't know their cost or how you can get them. I'm not sure whether you can have one if you are not registered with the state.
Always keep your ticket until you reach your final destination. Also, always validate your ticket in each medium. Tickets have a magnetic strip which probably stores info that the machine takes into account, and only if required it makes the charge.
Belgians really think that their public transportation is bad, at least when it is compared to the one in the Netherlands. I would agree that if your starting point is not close to central locations, the frequency of the busses is not good. This doesn't apply for the majority of the STIB network. Regardless, I believe that the trains are excellent, mostly on time or with a few minutes’ delays. I was never late for any interview and I could trust the route planners.
In Brussels every station (sncb and stib) has two names, one in French and one in Dutch. This doesn't happen in the rest of the Belgium. For example Brussels Zuid and Midi is actually the same station in different language. I remember first day I arrived I was really confused if I was getting out on the correct station because of the two names, that nobody has told be about.
One thing that I didn't like was the condition of the train stations, especially Brussels Noord, Centraal and Midi/Zuid. Especially Noord is in a very bad condition. The government should really do something about, because as was the case, every tourist that visits the town. Normally will take the train from the airport and once he reaches these station he will be really disappointed from what he sees.
