Jonathan Welch reflects on a few bus journeys around Luxembourg, where public transport is free
Regular readers will remember that I visited Luxembourg not long ago to see one of the country’s major operators, Emile Weber, and at the invitation of electrification specialist Furrer+Frey to see one of its All-in-One charging units at one of the operator’s depots. Whilst there, I took the opportunity to sample some of the bus services in the city of Luxembourg to transport me between my airport hotel and the city centre.
As much as I like a ‘proper’ timetable and route map, it was Google Maps and its journey planning facility that presented me with my options; interestingly, I could take a bus from either side of the road towards the main railway station in the city centre, and I tried both. But wait, let’s not overlook the most important thing here; the journeys were free. With rather unfortunate timing, back in February 2020 all buses, trams and trains were made free to use; unfortunate, as the pandemic has prevented a thorough study of the plan’s effects. The idea was not without precedent, and faced with a rising population was intended to quell the use of private cars amongst the 614,000 residents and those who travel in to work in Luxembourg from neighbouring countries, as well as tourists, and increase the number of public transport users by 20% in five years. Of course, the pandemic stepped in before that goal could be reached.
[…]By subscribing you will benefit from:
- Operator & Supplier Profiles
- Face-to-Face Interviews
- Lastest News
- Test Drives and Reviews
- Legal Updates
- Route Focus
- Industry Insider Opinions
- Passenger Perspective
- Vehicle Launches
- and much more!
