Charleroi bus links and DB

[DeverseSam]

There are three official bus links to Charleroi airport, at Luttre, Fleurus and Charleroi.

I can’t get Deutsche Bahn app to show these.

Travelling from Cologne I imagine the answer is to get to Luttre but it might depend on the time of day.

Is there any other app that will take account of these bus links?

 

[MR80]

The national SNCB app should show them and high speed trains from Cologne, but doesn't sell international tickets.

 

[Polarbear]

These are buses A1, A2 & A3 operated by TEC. They’ll show up in the TEC app if you download that.

Fares €6.00 for each single trip & each route operates every 30 minutes daytime.

 

[farci]

The airport website lists various links.

Apparently the federal government has buried a plan for a rail link:
https://www.thebulletin.be/federal-government-buries-plan-rail-link-charleroi-airport

 

[AlastairFraser]

There are three official bus links to Charleroi airport, at Luttre, Fleurus and Charleroi.

I can’t get Deutsche Bahn app to show these.

Travelling from Cologne I imagine the answer is to get to Luttre but it might depend on the time of day.

Is there any other app that will take account of these bus links?

Second vote for SNCB website, will show you the necessary links.
There's 2 ways to get there that will be reasonably quick from Cologne, check the timings for both.
1.) Cologne to Brussels ICE and then SNCB to Luttre, A3 bus to Charleroi airport every half an hour.
2.) Cologne to Liege ICE and then SNCB to Charleroi Central, A1 bus every half an hour too.

Depending on the connection in Liege, the Charleroi Central option might be the best, but Luttre is also fine.

With Luttre, it's walk straight out of the station exit and the TEC sign for the A3 is well marked.

With Charleroi Central, it's walk out of the northern exit and turn left towards the bus stands.

 

[Miha2te10]

There are three official bus links to Charleroi airport, at Luttre, Fleurus and Charleroi.

I can’t get Deutsche Bahn app to show these.

Travelling from Cologne I imagine the answer is to get to Luttre but it might depend on the time of day.

Is there any other app that will take account of these bus links?

Probably google maps?
It shows timetables of buses at the stops, probably will work for you.

 

[DeverseSam]

Thanks for all the answers. For context I missed a flight from there the other day due to multiple failed connections from Germany and I was looking at the alternative approaches to the airport, for next time. Flibco also runs a coach from bruxelles Midi but without guarantee of getting on.

With Luttre, it's walk straight out of the station exit and the TEC sign for the A3 is well marked.

With Charleroi Central, it's walk out of the northern exit and turn left towards the bus stands.

Charleroi Central always seems to be chaotic and having work done, so Luttre seems a good option.

 

[parkender102]

Thanks for all the answers. For context I missed a flight from there the other day due to multiple failed connections from Germany and I was looking at the alternative approaches to the airport, for next time. Flibco also runs a coach from bruxelles Midi but without guarantee of getting on.



Charleroi Central always seems to be chaotic and having work done, so Luttre seems a good option.

My fear exactly. First time travelling to Charleroi from Bruxelles Midi I had plenty of time and didn't fancy risking Flibco and not getting on the Bus - so took a train (1 Change) then the Airport Bus from the last Station. Last month however I booked Flibco and you can take any bus (00:00, 00:20 and 00:40 past the Hour right outside the Station and it was fine. I got there 15 mins before Deoarture and plenty of room and on Departure I don't think anyone got left behind.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Charleroi Central always seems to be chaotic and having work done, so Luttre seems a good option.

Sometimes it does, but changing at Liege means that you get to dodge delays in the Brussels area and get off an ICE as soon as possible onto a relatively reliable SNCB train first as well.

 

[MR80]

There's also a roughly two-hourly Flibco from Liège to Charleroi Airport

 

[AlastairFraser]

There's also a roughly two-hourly Flibco from Liège to Charleroi Airport

Ah that might be a better direct connection option? Does that leave from Guillemins station, and how long does it take?

 

[MR80]

Yeah, leaves outside of Liège-Guillemins and takes 1h15 mins. The timetable can be seen here: https://www.flibco.com/en/timetable. The bus starts in Maastricht.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Yeah, leaves outside of Liège-Guillemins and takes 1h15 mins. The timetable can be seen here: https://www.flibco.com/en/timetable. The bus starts in Maastricht.

Not a bad option at all, I'd probably call it the best for the direct airport access if the connections work from Germany.

Apparently the federal government has buried a plan for a rail link:
https://www.thebulletin.be/federal-government-buries-plan-rail-link-charleroi-airport

To be honest, there is probably a much cheaper extension option using the Metro line M3 from Gosselies, you could run an express light rail service up to Chaussee du Fleurus stop (perhaps stopping at Quest station and Piges), then head east along towards Rue Santos Dumont and the terminal.

 

[reb0118]

Not to hijack the thread but is Charleroi on the up? There was lots of building work going on when I last passed through.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Not to hijack the thread but is Charleroi on the up? There was lots of building work going on when I last passed through.

IMHO yes, I last visited in Sept 2023 and the area had a lot of investment put into it. Having an efficient local transit seemed to help too.

 

[stadler]

If you want to avoid the high airport surcharges of the dedicated airport A1/A2/A3 buses then you could walk to a stop outside the airport and use the normal priced 68 instead. It is just a five minute walk from the terminal to a stop called Gosselies Bolland on the road outside the grounds and from there you have the hourly 68 in to Charleroi city centre. Taking the 68 only costs EUR2.20 (app or smartcard) or EUR2.70 (onboard from the driver) instead of an extortionate EUR6.00 on the airport A1/A2/A3 buses.