Because of Covid Due to Covid, the number of people who contracted the disease in 2021 was around 40% less than the number before the outbreak. In the end, revenues declined to 75.5 million euro. Furthermore, the cost of operations have increased in the amount of 37.7 million euro, with the largest increase being the extra cleaning of trams and buses or the hire of coaches.
Similar to 2020 in 2020, the Flemish government was able to absorb the impact by introducing an additional corona allowance. Because of this, the revenue was slightly higher in the last year with 1.13 billion euros, which included 1 billion euros of staffing . De Lijn was successful in closing out the fiscal calendar year in a surplus. of 11,000 euros.
De Lijn also now wants to make significant investments in the eco-friendly vehicles it operates. In the present, the company has only a handful of fully electric buses , but the company made an order for 60 vehicles that include Van Hool and VDL last year. They are expected to arrive by the end of this year and will be able to use them until 2023.
De Lijn has the ambition to provide a service that does not emit any CO2 emissions before 2035. The plan is to do this slowly, increasing from 140 electric buses in 2024, to 560 in 2026. This will be followed by other significant orders follow.
The public transport company is seeking an affordable source of funding to carry out this plan, and negotiations for the new contract for public services together with the Flemish government continue. De Lijn hopes for progress before the end of summer. “We have a plan and now of course we have to give ourselves the means to implement it,” General director Ann Schoubs during the presentation of the annual report.