Charleroi Airport to Mechelen

[stuartmoss]

Hello All, I have to make this return journey next month and before I start Googling, I wondered if any of you have done this before and can offer any tips / advice.
1. Train V Bus (probably a silly question on here I realise).
2. Is it better to book in advance?
3. Anything else...

Thank you!

 

[AlexNL]

Belgium's fare system is fairly easy. You buy a ticket (either online, a TVM or a ticket office if you can find one) and board a train. There are no advance fares, peak restrictions, reservations, et cetera.

 

[johnnychips]

Charleroi Airport is not in Charleroi, but a twenty minute bus ride off peak from Charleroi Sud station. It will be easier doing this than getting the coach from the airport to Brussels and changing to a train there: it can be very full and gets stuck in the capital’s traffic.

EDIT: in fact there are half hourly trains from Charleroi Sud station direct to Mechelen taking about 1 hr 20 mins and you don’t have to change in Brussels.

You can certainly buy tickets from Belgian stations to the airport which include the bus. I’m not sure if this works in the other direction as the bus would have to have a bionic ticket machine, unless there is a TVM or office in Arrivals.

There is usually no advantage in buying return tickets in Belgium.

 

[MarcVD]

There is a TEC bus every 30' to the main train station, Charleroi Sud. And from there, half hourly IC trains straight to Mechelen.

 

[johnnychips]

There is apparently a rail ticket machine near door 2 in the terminal, where you could buy a combination bus/train ticket.

 

[radamfi]

The SNCB/NMBS app can sell a ticket from the airport. Make sure you choose "Ticket from Charleroi Airport" as the product, not "Standard ticket"

 

[stuartmoss]

Thanks for your replies everyone, very helpful.

 

[stuartmoss]

The SNCB/NMBS app can sell a ticket from the airport. Make sure you choose "Ticket from Charleroi Airport" as the product, not "Standard ticket"

Just done this, very easy. Thank you.

 

[Groningen]

One way ticket from Mechelen to Charleroi Sud is 12,70 euro. The Charleroi airport is in the NMBS travelplanner, but can not give information on the busconnection there. I see that the bus to and from the railwaystation is the 68.