This is the amount forecast by the government in the 2020 transport and public works budget, which has estimated the cost of free access from March to December at €41m.

The costs, which were examined by parliamentary committee on 14 November, also include a €400m allocation for the purchase of new trains, to be delivered between 2021 and 2024, with the aim of doubling capacity compared to now.

According to parliament, capacity will be doubled only after Luxembourg and Ettelbruck stations are completed and the construction of the new line to Bettembourg is operational. Bettembourg train station will also be renovated at a cost of €300m, a project which is scheduled for 2021.

From 2019 to 2023, the government said it had allocated €217m for tramway investments, which covers the extension of the network to the Cloche d’Or and Findel.

Public works budget

The public works budget will has been pruned back for 2020, with an allocation of €907m, as opposed to €917m in 2020. The allocation was higher in 2019 to cover the costs of the new national library in Kirchberg.

The new budget will cover the renovation of the former Esch-Belval dairy for the European Capital of Culture Esch 2022 and the renovation of the two towers in Kirchberg.

Other major road infrastructure improvements budgeted for by the government include the transport hub at Cloche d’Or, redevelopment of the Pontpierre junction on the A4 motorway, the Micheville junction, a new segment of the N3, the construction of a bypass in Clervaux and a new road between Ettelbruck and Diekirch.

The government further added that the A3 motorway extension was planned for 2021, with work expected to take five years.

New priority projects highlighted to the committee, meanwhile, include several high schools, among them the Lycée Michel Lucius in Kirchberg (€160m), the national school for adult education and sports lycée in Mersch/Mamer (€38m), Bonnevoie technical college (€181m), International School of Differdange (€74.7m, 2017-2020), Mondorf International School (€145m). Other priority projects include the Uerschterhaff penitentiary (€166m, 2017-2022), Domaine Thermal in Mondorf (€135.5m) and Herrenbierg military base (€137.9m, 2019-2025).