The influx of approximately 180,000 people to the Belgian coast due to favorable weather on Labour Day led to significant travel disruptions. Ostend's city center was temporarily closed to incoming traffic due to overwhelming crowds and congestion. This was announced by the Flemish Traffic Centre and local police.
The high number of visitors, including both day-trippers and overnight tourists (with hotel occupancy at 85%), created substantial traffic jams. Authorities closed the Ostend city center to incoming traffic to ensure emergency services could navigate the area effectively, diverting traffic at Vuurkruisenplein near Mercator.
Adding to the travel chaos, a train heading towards the coast experienced technical issues near Affligem, resulting in the evacuation of around 1,000 passengers under police supervision. Seven passengers required medical attention due to the heat. The incident temporarily blocked two railway tracks, causing further disruptions on the Ghent-Brussels line before being cleared.
Ostend beach. Credit: Belga
Due to large crowds at the Belgian coast, the city centre of Ostend was temporarily closed to all incoming traffic on Thursday afternoon.
The Flemish Traffic Centre and local police made the announcement, adding that there have also been issues with other transport routes.
The good weather on Labour Day has attracted around 180,000 people to the Belgian coast, according to the tourism company Westtoer. This has caused considerable traffic jams.
In addition to day trippers, the number of tourists staying overnight is as high around the coast as during the Easter weekend. Hotels at the coast have an average 85% occupancy rate. This makes 1 May the busiest day of 2025 so far for the local tourist sector.
The centre of Ostend is particularly busy. "No one else can get through," confirmed police spokesperson, Simon Fiers.
Local authorities have therefore decided to close the centre of the coastal city to all incoming traffic.
Traffic is currently being diverted at Vuurkruisenplein, near Mercator. "From there, everything will be closed off to ensure that emergency services can still pass through," stated the Flemish Traffic Centre.
As well as the large crowds in Ostend, there have been issues with train travel to the beach on Thursday.
A train heading towards the Belgian coast came to a halt near Affligem (Flemish Brabant) at around 11:30 on Thursday morning due to technical issues and the presence of smoke. Under police supervision, some 1,000 passengers were safely evacuated.
About seven individuals became unwell and received medical attention on-site from emergency services, according to SNCB/NMBS spokesperson, Dimitri Temmerman. "Due to the hot weather, emergency services were called as a precaution," stated Temmerman.
At the police's request, all passengers were able to safely disembark, taking shelter from the sun under a bridge where emergency services distributed water.
The police then arranged for the passengers to walk to the nearby Liedekerke station, where they continued their journey on another train.
The incident caused disruptions on the busy railway line between Ghent and Brussels, with two tracks blocked for some time. By around 14:50, the stranded train was removed, and the railway was fully cleared.
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