According to CFL Director General Marc Wengler, the Luxembourg National Railway Company (CFL) faces a dual challenge: Managing multiple construction sites while maintaining a consistent level of service.
In addition, the CFL also has to deal with the unexpected challenge posed by the incident in the Schieburg tunnel and the disruption of the northern line between Clervaux and Kautenbach, Marc Wengler said in an interview with our colleagues from RTL Radio on Tuesday morning.
Luxembourg's national railway company expects that it will be able to reopen the tunnel in mid-April 2023, after the Easter holidays. According to Wengler, this is a "realistic" estimate, although he acknowledges that "something could of course happen in the meantime." The analyses have all been done and an eight-stage method has been chosen to carry out the repairs and stabilise the tunnel. The CFL is working "day and night" to resolve the situation, Wengler stressed, adding that it is not possible to "do more with the alternative bus service" because there are no more buses or bus drivers available in the Greater Region. "What happened in the Schieburg tunnel could not have happened in other tunnels," Wengler said. During maintenance work, a hole was drilled in a cavity, through which loose material such as sand and stones passed. Drought is also believed to have contributed to the incident.
In 2022, the CFL registered "a record 365 days of construction," and yet, "rail traffic must continue to operate." Wengler admitted that the current situation is a "huge challenge." "If the passengers are not satisfied, neither are we." While there are reasons for delays and cancellations, "this obviously does not help passengers, who need to go to work, for example," the CFL director acknowledged.
According to Wengler, "train punctuality reached 92% in the first nine months of the year." In recent weeks, however, a number of incidents have caused more problems, including "the collapse of the tunnel vault, the discovery of a bomb from the Second World War, strikes in Belgium and France…" In addition, a large construction site south of the central railway station in the capital that was supposed to be completed in September was only recently removed. In Ettelbruck, a brand new, cutting-edge digital signal box was inaugurated, which caused a few issues at first, but they have all been resolved now. All this shows that problems can arise very quickly in the CFL's star-shaped network, with Luxembourg City station at the centre, Wengler said.
While passengers will see the biggest improvement in 2026, new trains will arrive next year that will be not only more comfortable but also capable of carrying 46% more passengers, the CFL director stated.
