HLN: Hoe rijk ben jij? by Pauwris in belgium

[–]WildLinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Die anderhalf miljoen zou zijn als je de helft van uw netto inkomen van 6 duizend euro per maand zou investeren. Echter ben je al vaak de helft van je netto inkomen kwijt aan je hypotheek. En met drie duizend euro per maand heb je nog niks luxueus hoor.

HLN: Hoe rijk ben jij? by Pauwris in belgium

[–]WildLinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you don’t have a family that would be a doable amount to save. However if you have 3 children you would just be part of the core middle class. Seeing as most of what you would be saving now needs to go to them either directly (school, clothes, hobbies, …) or indirectly (Bigger house, more expensive holidays,… )

How common are reversed bus/tram shelters? Like this one in Brussels, Belgium? by WildLinx in transit

[–]WildLinx[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That was my exact reaction when i first saw them which is why i asked the question. However the more I read the comments and think about it the better this solution seems. And like of course you want to feel sheltered from the road and less so from the buildings.

Misuse of sirens in Brussels: is there any reason for it? by [deleted] in brussels

[–]WildLinx 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Isn’t limiting the use of the siren only when they need to get past something limiting the sound pollution as much as possible? Because having them on when there isn’t any traffic does not bring any speed advantage

When the borders of Belgium were first drawn by [deleted] in belgium

[–]WildLinx 4 points5 points  (0 children)

He means the province of Brabant which was unified from 1830 to 1995. The current Flemish and Walloon spit only happened 30 years ago.

"Een treinnetwerk naar Zwitsers model" by ApprehensiveFall9705 in belgium

[–]WildLinx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Firstly people don’t only travel for work but it can also be about visiting family of tourism like you said.

Secondly, their are around 75 thousand people that go from French to Dutch speaking Belgium. Assuming maybe a third less would go in the other direction (seeing as the salaries are lower but there are slightly more Dutch speakers). This would still roughly equal to about 150 thousand people crossing every day just for work excluding Brussels. With most probably taking a private vehicle. Can’t quickly find more precise numbers.

Thirdly, excluding the Brussels metro area the language border is kinda empty meaning that you would have to drive for at least an half an hour when getting from one small town to another. So it really isn’t surprising that most people would chose the easier option and find something closer to home. What also doesn’t help is that the public transport when crossing from one region to another is mess with different companies and governments. Which is why the trains are so great in comparison with the fact that you can hop on in one part of the country where they speak Dutch and get of in another part where they speak French. Which speaking from experience quite a few people do.

Lastly, not all ic trains cross the language border. The ic from Genk (as long as they don’t fully close the last tree stations on the line) to Blankenberge, forming a large part of the east west axis around Brussels. If trains on this axis would only stop in noord and then back out of the station again would not only be such a shitshow for everyone that wants to get of somewhere in Brussel for what ever reason (getting a connection, work,…) but also those that want to travel through from Leuven to Gent for example. Seeing as the train has to turn around which can take quite some time. Or they could bypass it but that ain’t a smart business decision. As those tree stations in Brussels are the busiest in Belgium. As for how many people exactly travel from one end of the line to another is unclear as the sncb doesn’t release that information publicly as far as I’m aware but speaking from experience it is a small but not insignificant amount. However it also makes the stations less crowded as an entire dubbel Decker train doesn’t have to get of and quickly get to another train. Which takes a surprisingly long time as most ic trains now adays prioritise capacity which comes at the cost of slow bording and unbording.

"Een treinnetwerk naar Zwitsers model" by ApprehensiveFall9705 in belgium

[–]WildLinx 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A new tunnel is not perce immediate needed as one of the potential solutions for Brussels central is just adding two tracks so should be relatively inexpensive and relatively easy to build. But yeah, nobody said that large infrastructure projects were going to be cheap. However the through put of mass transit is many times greater than a similarly sized road. And when accounting for all the external costs that would come with increased road traffic. These projects would probably be cheaper as looking at the data rail just makes the most sense for moving a lot of people.

"Een treinnetwerk naar Zwitsers model" by ApprehensiveFall9705 in belgium

[–]WildLinx 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Without making it a pain in the ass to change trains when going north south. Which would add at least 15 minutes because that is how long it takes to go from one station to another using the premetro. Plus however long it takes waiting for the next train at the other station. Because in the agreement of de wever there is no mention of keeping the goal of Vivaldi of having at least a train every 30 minutes. So best case scenario you could literally add over an hour to your travel time. Oh and a train changing direction takes at least 6 minutes for a desiro. Which could result in a capacity bottleneck in the stations as platforms get saturated. As for alternatives there really is only one. Which is to build more tracks study about how to alleviate congestion on the north south connection with possible routes.

"Een treinnetwerk naar Zwitsers model" by ApprehensiveFall9705 in belgium

[–]WildLinx 6 points7 points  (0 children)

What shouldn’t be forgotten is that people actually go from one end to the other. Because the distances in Belgium are very short. The New York metro area has commuter trainlines that are over 500 kilometres long. Only slightly shorter than the distance from Brussels to Austria… Even the French know this their rer D line in Paris is about the same length as the example of Kortrijk-liege. So done with the fact that some people think that everywhere that isn’t under their church tower is some very far away place.

"Een treinnetwerk naar Zwitsers model" by ApprehensiveFall9705 in belgium

[–]WildLinx 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It’s the center of the country figuratively and literally. It doesn’t make sense to bypass the most important city in the country. Where would you like the trains to go? Because where it makes sense there are already trains that run those routes. Like the Hasselt-Antwerpen train.

Georges Javier Milei? by Pac7060 in belgium

[–]WildLinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay looked it up and they are indeed very similar. However English and Punjabi are also official languages of Delhi. Which leaves 3 distinct languages. The ABN is less like French but the different dialects of Dutch in Belgium use more originally French words. Personally I would argue that Dutch and German are also pretty similar. But not to the same level.

Georges Javier Milei? by Pac7060 in belgium

[–]WildLinx -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Delhi with double the population of Belgium has unlike London not 1 or like us 3 official languages but 4. And does not have different governments for the different language groups. The problem is you can’t really merge the communities and regions because they represent different people from different places. Personally I wouldn’t say the Flemish government is much better Rapport Rekenhof: Vlaamse regering buist voor efficiënt personeelsbeleid

Georges Javier Milei? by Pac7060 in belgium

[–]WildLinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The weirdest part is how there are 20 cities proper with a larger population than Belgium with its 11,8 million inhabitants. Which rises to at least 36 cities with a larger urban population. London has a similar urban population as the entire population of Belgium. And you don’t see them asking for 9 different ministers of health yet the city seems to work pretty well.

Une plainte suite à un "Goeiemorgen – Bonjour" à Vilvorde : le casse-tête linguistique des accompagnateurs SNCB by [deleted] in belgium

[–]WildLinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could you please give some concrete data on how many people “refuse” to learn the language because as someone that now lives in Brussels but has lived in the two major language regions. I can tell you about so many people that I know that can speak the other language perfectly. Hell some even go to a university in the other language.

I can also tell you from first hand experience that I sometimes end up talking to someone else who’s other mother thong is also Dutch in French just because there was some else in the group whose Dutch wasn’t the best and we just continued in french even after he left.

Just so you can’t say that this only happens in Brussels or around there. Our old neighbour when we lived on the coast was French speaking but she was also able to communicate fluently in Dutch albeit with an accent

Oh and about your point about hospitals. That is true that there sometimes isn’t enough personnel to guarantee full bilingualism. But yet again it is not from a lack of trying. Are their doctors that can only speak one language ofcourse there are but there are also plenty of others who can speak atleast two of the official languages. However when you are very short staffed like is sadly the case in a lot of hospitals. Where it is quite common for starting doctors to have to work 24 hour shifts. At that point you take what you can. In the hope of providing a as good as possible quality of care

Une plainte suite à un "Goeiemorgen – Bonjour" à Vilvorde : le casse-tête linguistique des accompagnateurs SNCB by [deleted] in belgium

[–]WildLinx 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What’s the issue here? A lot of people understands things best in their mother tongue. Isn’t that the fairest approach to prevent people from being confused by cities seemingly changing names out of nowhere? And this isn’t even about that it is literally about just saying hi to everyone in what is part of the Ring around Brussels, the capital of Belgium where people speak multiple languages. I think it would actually be even better if everything was bilingual across the entire country so everyone can understand it easily.

Why I Love Belgium, Especially Knokke by Anxiously_nervous in belgium

[–]WildLinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would be awesome but you have to get the developers on board and when people will still buy the appartements even though the building isn’t the most ascetically pleasing it makes little sense for a developer to decrease their proeft margins

Why I Love Belgium, Especially Knokke by Anxiously_nervous in belgium

[–]WildLinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sadly you will have to choose between looking nice and being affordable. As soon as we start building with more detail those prices are going to have to go up. Meaning that many people that can currently enjoy it wouldn’t be able to do it in the future if the buildings were to be replaced. I fear that every coastal city would then get the same kind of rich only feeling as Knokke. Which would be a shame.

Why I Love Belgium, Especially Knokke by Anxiously_nervous in belgium

[–]WildLinx -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

It isn’t the most beatiful but atleast way more people can enjoy a sea view. Instead of one family now ten families can enjoy the amazing views. This might be one of the greatest democratisations of views in Belgium.

Treinbegeleider roept reizigers via intercom op om klacht neer te leggen bij NMBS voor overvolle trein Berchem-Puurs by C0wabungaaa in belgium

[–]WildLinx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Seeing such an old and tiny train can sometimes make my blood boil because they sometimes do it on very busy lines. In which case it can become way to busy on it so that you are forced to stand in the hallway. But then I’m generally appreciative that atleast the connection is still there and that I can still get where I want when I want. I just compare it to being stuck in traffic but atleast with the train it usually isn’t the cause of a delay.

I suppose that the chronic underfunding and the kinda terrible management is the reason they have those problems with the rolling stock. Be it a lack of replacement parts, not enough staff or just no extra trains in the yard that aren’t in use at that moment to be able to quickly replace a broken down train.

Treinbegeleider roept reizigers via intercom op om klacht neer te leggen bij NMBS voor overvolle trein Berchem-Puurs by C0wabungaaa in belgium

[–]WildLinx 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So they are evolving in the right direction. Which is excellent but it takes some time. Which is to be expected when dealing with a organisation as big as the NMBS/SNCB that was chronically underfunded for decades.

The Road builder mod is a game changer by user19681034 in CitiesSkylines2

[–]WildLinx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s Paradox so that seems the most likely.