SNCB launches fruit and veg takeaway pick-up in its stations

What happens when logistics meets public transport? Well, in Belgium they are about to find out! In May 2021, Belgian train operator, SNCB, is launching a fruit and vegetable delivery scheme at several train stations in Flanders and Wallonia.

The pilot projects are being established at the Gent-Sint-Pieters station in Flanders, and in the Liège-Guillemins, Ottignies and Braine-le-Comte train stations in Wallonia. They will allow travellers and local residents to order local fruit and vegetables via the internet and pick up their purchases once a week at the train station.

The scheme unites sustainable transport with sustainably-sourced food. Shoppers can choose from providers which source at least 70% of their foods from within a 30 km radius. It aims to make shopping and mobility easier for citizens, with easy online payment systems and collections scheduled for two-hour slots, at the end of the day, which corresponds to the times many are returning home by train and so will already be passing through the station.

The project will run for a year initially with collection available every Friday between 15.30 and 17.30 CET, just in time for the weekend.

"I hope that this can be rolled out in other stations afterwards. This is good for the traveller, for the local producer and for the environment," said Georges Gilkinet, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Mobility.

This article originally appeared in Brussels Times on 10 May 2021.