Bausch (Déi Gréng) met with lawmakers to provide an update on a number of rail infrastructure projects that aim to increase capacity but also reduce delays by adding tracks to stations and for different services.

One of the issues currently, Bausch explained, is that one delay causes bottlenecks as other trains cannot enter or leave the station, being blocked by the delayed service.

Works on the north side of the central train station were concluded at the end of last year, the minister said. At the south end of the station, work begins in 2022 and will continue until 2026.

“At the end of the works, each line entering/leaving the Luxembourg station will have a dedicated track, thus limiting the transfer of delays from trains from one line to trains from another line,” a report said.

A new line between Luxembourg and Bettembourg also means that platforms have to be added to the station in Howald, which will be turned into an exchange hub with the tram and other modes of public transport in the longer term.

This will allow for services arriving in Luxembourg City to already run on separate tracks entering Howald. The system should be fully in place by 2026, the transport minister said.

“I would like to congratulate the CFL for the works already accomplished and those to come. In view of the complexity of the project, the construction of the line and the related stations is equivalent to open-heart surgery on the Luxembourg rail network. The acquisition of 300 plots of land was necessary for the realisation of this project. Once the line is completed in 2026, rail in Luxembourg will experience a huge jump in quality,” said Bausch.

Around 25m passengers used Luxembourg’s rail network in 2019, up from around 14m in 2005. Numbers dropped in 2020 because of the pandemic and have since stagnated.