The tram is seen in front of Auchan on Avenue JF Kennedy on Thursday Allison Voscamp

The tram is seen in front of Auchan on Avenue JF Kennedy on Thursday Allison Voscamp

Passengers were not, however, permitted to ride in the vehicle, which ran between Luxexpo and the red bridge between 9am and 10am purely as a test exercise.

The inaugural voyage was taken in heavy rain at a slower than normal pace, in order to check for obstacles along the track.

If all goes smoothly, tram drivers will begin training in September. Further tests are planned in November, still with empty vehicles. Passengers will finally be able to ride the tram from 10 December, when it opens to the public.

from ipcom on Vimeo.

First introduced in 1875

Trams were widely used as public transport in Luxembourg since 1875 when the first 10-kilometre track opened.

At its height, trams operated over a 31-kilometre network in the capital. The network was eventually replaced by buses, which were considered more efficient and flexible. The last tram was taken out of service on 5 September 1964. Another tram network operated in Esch-sur-Alzette and its surroundings from 1927 to 1956.

According to the government website, the idea to reintroduce trams has been in circulation since 1991 but the construction project was not greenlighted until 2014. The network will be constructed in three phases, the second travelling from the red bridge (Pfaffenthal Kirchberg) to the Lycée Technique de Bonnevoie by 2020, and the final stage to the Cloche d'Or by 2021.