© Marc Barthelemy
The concept was first presented in 2018 and then fully implemented on 1 March two years later, making the Grand Duchy the first country in the world to offer free public transport to everyone.
The number of train passengers in Luxembourg had steadily been increasing since 2005 to reach its peak in 2019 with 25 million people relying on public transport. The following year, numbers experienced a significant drop to 14.5 million due to the pandemic. In 2021, passenger numbers showed a slight improvement with 16.6 million, only to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 with 22.1 million, according to official figures from the Ministry for Mobility and Public Works.
When it comes to tram passengers, a steady increase has been reported since its inception in 2017, the only exception being the first pandemic year. In December 2018, an average of 22,065 people used the tram per week, which went up to a staggering 88,218 per week in December 2022.
Minister Bausch believes that the introduction of free public transport was a positive development as it put the issue of mobility in the public's focus. Nevertheless, he says that there is still a lot of work to be done: "If we manage to implement the complete 'National Mobility Plan', which I presented last year, by 2035, then we have raised the bar to another level here in Luxembourg."
The Greens politician further noted: "This is the key to success. People use alternatives to cars if they see that there is a certain advantage. ... Trains have to be on time, other services need to function, and it has to be comfortable. That is what we are working on at the moment."
