Travellers will once again have to be patient this summer. As is the case every year, and as previously announced, CFL is taking advantage of the school holidays – a period when trains are less busy – to speed up maintenance and modernisation work on Luxembourg’s rail network. As a result, service disruptions will affect almost all of the country’s main lines in turn, with replacement buses provided and journey times in some cases significantly longer.
Disruptions will affect services to France, Belgium, Germany, southern Luxembourg and the Northern Line. In particular, the Luxembourg–Thionville–Metz route will be completely suspended from 16 July to 23 August. Passengers will need to take several replacement bus services and allow up to 45 minutes extra for the journey between Thionville and Luxembourg due to road traffic. The Luxembourg–Bettembourg route will also be closed from 16 July to 14 August, ahead of a further disruption between Luxembourg and Esch-sur-Alzette on 15 to 23 August. Services to Troisvierges, Gouvy and Trier will also be suspended from 24 August to 14 September, whilst the route to Arlon will be subject to several closures and revised timetables from the start of July.
1,000 bus journeys a day
To minimise the impact on travel, CFL will be rolling out a major replacement service comprising nearly 1,000 bus journeys a day and around 200 drivers. The RGTR and TICE networks will supplement this service. However, timetables will remain more susceptible to traffic congestion, which is why the rail operator recommends allowing extra time before each journey. In particular, CFL will be using a renewal train – a specialised convoy capable of replacing the rails, sleepers and part of the ballast along long sections of track in a single operation.
Behind these disruptions lie several major infrastructure projects. CFL will continue work on the future additional line between Luxembourg and Bettembourg, due to open in 2027, to increase capacity on one of the country’s busiest routes. The works will also see the completion of a large part of the new Howald transport hub, which is due to be fully operational in the final quarter of 2026, complete with its platforms, coach station and tram stop. At the same time, kilometres of track will be renewed, bridges modernised and infrastructure made safer in order to improve the long-term reliability of the network.
