Post

Update on @nicr.dev's and my lawsuit against NMBS 🚆 In an overwhelming victory, the judge ruled today that NMBS illegally denied our reimbursement claim, and must reimburse us in full + cover full procedural costs. The court followed our reasoning completely, and dismissed all points NMBS made. 🎉

The details of the case were as follows: - We booked a train from Maastricht (NL) to Liege (BE) on 27 february 2025 (12.20 EUR). - This train was cancelled because NMBS didn't pay they employees enough, so they went on strike (good!) - NMBS did not proactively offer an alternative for re-routing.

- I called them to ask whether I could organize my own alternative, because they hadn't not going to organize anything. - They agreed to this, and gave me the URL to the page to submit the claim. - We researched the cheapest alternative, which in this case was a 120 EUR taxi (train via DE was 130).

- I submitted a claim the same day to get my taxi reimbursed. - They denied the claim (and we went back and forth a bit). - We sued them. - NMBS kept denying everything. - 6 months later, the judge saw right thru their lies and ruled in our favor, awarding us full compensation + court costs.

The judge followed my legal reasoning to the tee, and dismissed all points NMBS made. NMBS spent significant legal resources in an attempt to mislead the court with false statements about the law, me, and their train operations. Shame on them.

Some highlights: NMBS made the totally absurd claim that this train, in Arriva livery, staffed by Arriva drivers between Aachen and Maastricht, is exclusively operated by NS and NMBS, and Arriva is not involved in operations or ticket sales at all. This is just plain wrong.

They also tried to say that because I was physically in the Netherlands, anything that any NMBS staff tells me while there is not legally binding because the train runs under an NS safety license between Maastricht and Eijsden.

This is additionally absurd because between those two stations, only NMBS conductors are aboard the train. For anyone who will ever get fined between these stations by an NMBS conductor, just tell them that their head of legal said they have no legal basis while physically in the Netherlands :)