In Belgium, a complaint has been lodged against a train conductor for greeting passengers in both Dutch and French. This follows a passenger’s complaint, leading the Belgian Language Control Commission to open an investigation.
The incident occurred in October on a train traveling from Mechelen, a city in the Dutch-speaking province of Flanders, to the capital, Brussels. On that day, French-speaking conductor Elias Alba greeted passengers with a loud “goeiemorgen, bonjour,” which means “good morning” in Dutch and French, respectively.
A Dutch-speaking passenger expressed dissatisfaction with the dual-language greeting, stating, “We’re not in Brussels yet; you should speak only in Dutch!”
Under Belgium’s language laws, conductors are generally required to use both Dutch and French only in Brussels and a few other bilingual regions, making the passenger’s complaint technically valid.
The situation has sparked controversy in Belgium, a country where political issues are often divided along linguistic lines, with Dutch-speaking residents in the north and French-speaking residents in the south.
Georges Gilkinet, Belgium’s Minister of Transport, defended Alba, emphasizing that regional borders in Belgium are often crossed, and conductors should focus on providing “a warm welcome” to passengers. “The use of multiple languages for greetings does not shock me,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, the Permanent Language Control Commission has confirmed that the passenger’s complaint is “under review” and will seek further information from the national railway operator, SNCB, regarding their language policy.
