Nervous Train Planning

The problem is that you are trying to book from the SNCB domestic website.

You need to book through the SNCB International site (for all cross border services from Belgium- to France, the Netherlands, Germany etc)- https://www.b-europe.com/EN

Check out Trainline. I just did a dummy booking from Lille to "Gent", and it looked pretty straightforward.

https://www.thetrainline.com/journey-planner

Trainline is a better site for planning at least; it is very user friendly. We often book with them. the official web sites all look like they were designed by interns.

Per advice you received on your other thread, the direct train from Lille Flandres to Ghent is a TER/IC train that goes every hour and costs 12.80 EUR each way. There are no reserved seats. So it is not necessary to book in advance.

Not only is it not necessary to book in advance, the ticket is fully flexible. So if you get a return ticket Lille - Gent you can take one trip in one direction, and another in the other direction, on a train of your choosing. So no need to pin yourself down on a train, even though the booking process does start with you selecting a train.

So just get it from www.b-europe.com, or at the station.

Note that if you feel a bit overwhelmed imagine what someone would feel who tried to book a New York Subway ride 2 months in advance... The only thing you need to remember is this: You can always buy a ticket at the station. By law the railways must permit you that. The main reason to book tickets in advance is for the discounts, but that only applies on long distance trains. For the rest, just treat the trains as what they really are. Just local mass transit.

The problem is that you are trying to book from the SNCB domestic
website.

The website will however automatically redirect you to the international site when you press the "buy ticket" button...

The problem is that you are trying to book from the SNCB domestic
website. The website will however automatically redirect you to the international site when you press the "buy ticket" button...

The point is that if you start with the international website you don't get that confusing message.

I personally LOVE Trainline. It's a fabulous, free app. Any difference in price from another site has been well worth it due to how darn quick and easy it is. However, you can always research with Trainline and buy elsewhere if you wish.

Ditto to Judith’s comments on The Trainline. It’s user-friendly, easy to use and The Trainline’s commissions are so small—it’s worth it to get the train ticket purchases completed in record time.

We just took the train from Lille to Ghent in April. We changed trains in Kortrijk. We bought the tickets in advance on the SNCF app. There was no option for a direct train but I figured that was because it was a Sunday.