The completion of the tram tracks between Place de l’Etoile and the central train station continues on schedule, transport minister François Bausch said at a press conference on Thursday 1 October.

Construction on the tram continued during the summer--not joining the annual collective construction sector break--to make up for delays caused by the coronavirus lockdown in March and April.

There will be four new stops located at Hamilius, Place de Metz, Place de Paris and the train station, with the tram departing every five minutes. The frequency could increase next year, depending on demand, said André von der Marck, director general of LuxTram.

There are 27 trains currently available, which would allow to push the frequency to the tram departing every three minutes. The delivery of another six trains is scheduled for October 2021 and December 2022, when the tram will travel all the way from the Cloche d’Or to the airport in Findel.

Another 39 conductors will be hired to reach 80 tram drivers at the end of next year.

The opening of the next leg of the tram will be a “big step forward to a new urban mobility,” said city mayor Lydie Polfer, adding that more room would be given to cyclists and pedestrians along the tram tracks.

The arrival of the tram has come hand in hand with a reorganisation of the bus network, with more buses stopping on the capital’s periphery. “A total of 1,750 bus passenger a day through the city centre will simply be removed,” Bausch said.

Construction work on the tram will take a short break between mid-December and mid-January. Works around the train station will end in spring 2021 with the stops at Place de Paris and Place de Metz to be fully fitted out by next summer.

This article originally appeared in French on Paperjam.lu