Any Belgian station

[Capybara]

I'm booked via Eurostar to 'Any Belgian station' in October and am likely to have quite a bit of time on my hands to get to Brussels on the day of my return. I was wondering how much leeway I have using this ticket ie must I travel directly to Brussels as quickly as possible by the most direct train once my return journey starts, or can I break my journey or travel around a bit as long as I am generally travelling in the direction of Brussels? I can't find anything on the Eurostar site. Presumably most people are only interested in getting to or from their destination as quickly as possible.

 

[1E05]

In short, no but so long as your cautious and there aren't station Barrie's when you complete your final journey you should be okay. The Any Belgian ticket is only valid for one journey between Brussels Midi and one other Belgian station, via local trains ONLY (not Thalys or ICE) and up to a maximum of 24 hours of your Eurostar ticket.
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Barriers *

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

You should have no problem, the advice I've always had in Belgium is that the tickets are valid the day of arrival or the following day, and the return on that day or the day before. And that's the advice I've followed without any problems for years. Also, Standard Premier is valid in 1st on SNCB/NMBS! Occasionally the ticket examiners will look at the tickets a little oddly since they don't see them very often but then they seem to recognise them. Enjoy!

 

[Capybara]

Thanks both. I'm just looking at options. I'll be travelling in from Germany on the return and wan't considering trying to use it as a rover or anything. Possibly doing Liege to Brussels via Namur with a break there for a few hours. Do they have barriers in Belgium? I don't recall ever having seen any.

 

[radamfi]

As far as I know, the only countries in western Europe that have barriers are the UK and Ireland, and soon the Netherlands.

 

[johnnychips]

What if I don't travel towards Brussels at all times, not exactly backwards, but sideways, for example Eupen - Liege - Namur (sideways) - Brussels? I wouldn't as such, but if someone tells me it's OK then I might.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Central Liege is a little way from Liege- Guillemins station: Liege-Palais is better (train every 20 minutes or so).
Liege-Namur is quite a pretty route along the Meuse river. I think strictly the ABS ticket won't be valid that way (in Belgium, all ticket routes are 'direct' and there is no such thing as 'Any Permitted Route'). However, if you ask the conductor before boarding, I don't think you'll have any problem since the SNCB staff tend to be fairly relaxed about things.
There are no ticket barriers in Belgium: it really does make the network nice and easy to use!

 

[radamfi]

http://www.belgianrail.be/en/customer-service/FAQ/tickets.aspx?cat=travel

In theory, you should always travel by the shortest distance between departure and arrival stations. But you can take a different route if it'll get you to your destination faster.

However, you can never start further back than your departure point or go past your destination point and then come back to it unless you have paid for these journeys (‘Via ticket’).

If you'd like to extend your journey beyond the station shown on your ticket, buy a route top-up before leaving the station (you can also buy cards for 10 top-ups).

If you would like to use a high speed train during your domestic journey (ICE, Thalys, TGV, Fyra), please don't forget to buy a surcharge at the ticket counter.

Also for journeys to Maastricht, Roosendaal, Lille-Flandres, Aachen and Luxembourg (I) a special ticket is required for travelling to these stations.

 

[duncanp]

With the Any Belgian Station ticket, the journey from Brussels must commence within 24 hours of your arrival in Brussels.

The journey to Brussels cannot commence any earlier than 24 hours before your Eurostar departure to London.

I was in this situation earlier this year with an Any Belgian Station ticket, with a Eurostar departure from Brussels at 12:56 on 7th May. I was able to use this ticket to travel from Blankenberge to Brussels on the 13:11 departure on 6th May, but would not have been able to travel on the 12:11 train.