The organisation of the meeting expected by users of the Sillon Lorrain railway line was the subject of some criticism, particularly on social networks, even before it took place. Users criticised the region and the SNCF--which were organising the meeting--for having communicated relatively late about it, and also for having chosen a time and place (at the Hôtel de Région in Metz, at 6pm) that did not allow the majority of users to attend. Nevertheless, passenger associations such as AVTERML-FNAUT were present and put forward their demands. A number of new features were also announced at the meeting.
From spring 2025, a bicycle hire service will be deployed, “to improve intermodality and address the issue of the last mile.” Fifty-two stations in the region will be equipped with “Fluo bikes.” For the Sillon Lorrain, four stations are involved: Metz, Hagondange, Thionville and Hettange-Grande. Each station should have around ten bikes. However, it will not be possible to use the bikes at night, so the “last mile” issue does not seem to be fully addressed.
The Lorraine-Luxembourg metropolitan regional express service (Serm) project was briefly presented. As a reminder, this is a global mobility service based on trains, but also express coaches and a range of bicycles, linked together at multimodal interchanges. The project is still under development. The region has reiterated the project’s additional objectives, beyond the development of rail services: “to identify alternative routes; to propose multimodal alternatives; to identify solutions for serving peri-urban areas that do not benefit from rail infrastructure.” At the same time, two other studies are being carried out in the area: the strategic cross-border mobility plan (SMOT)--currently under way--and a study of mobility around Thionville-Bouzonville-Creutzwald-Forbach, which will be launched at the end of the year. But no precise timetable or funding plan has been detailed. Some users said on the sidelines of the meeting: “Nothing but hot air!”
Furthermore, according to the AVTERML-FNAUT users’ association, “the Thionville-Esch line will not be reused (during the works). And the new Luxembourg Coradia trains are not scheduled to run in France.” On the other hand, the Apach-Thionville link could be brought back into service, according to the 2028 cross-border call for tenders.
The SNCF and CFL also gave an update on the year’s construction works and those to come. At Thionville, work to extend the Centralised Network Control (CCR) is continuing until early December, as is maintenance work at Metz. Maintenance work at Metz/Woippy will be completed in mid-November.
The watchword: patience!
In 2025, the connection to the future Montigny-lès-Metz workshop should be completed. On the Luxembourg side, the CFL has announced that traffic between Bettembourg and the capital will be interrupted for at least 13 weekends in April and between July and September to continue preparing the connection to the future Bettembourg-Luxembourg line. This work will involve building a new platform at Howald and adapting the railroad switches in Luxembourg City.
In 2026-2027, two more summers of construction work are planned, with--as last summer--a complete interruption of traffic between Thionville and Luxembourg, again to connect the new line, which should be brought into service at the end of 2027 or the beginning of 2028.
The region has provided an update on capacity, and in particular on the 16 new trains purchased from the Normandy region, which are still not running on the network. They are not due to be put into service until the end of 2025, or even the beginning of 2026. They must first be equipped and approved for use in Luxembourg. Ultimately, they will provide 4,000 additional seats per direction of travel during rush hour.
This article was originally published in French.
