€1 per hour (€0.60 in the evening), or €85 for a monthly pass: this is how much it costs to park at the Belval P+R.
Every day, residents and cross-border commuters park there, either to stay in Belval or to get to work. The large car park with 1,600 spaces is located close to France and is directly served by public transport (bus and train).
However, those who pay for parking in this P+R may be unaware that other motorists have had a very advantageous subscription: a card offering completely free parking for 24 hours.
This two-tier policy is not new. Our colleagues from RTL 5 Minutes first covered it in July 2021, when the ‘MKaart Good Morning P+R Belval’ was discontinued. This card allowed its holder to park for free in the P+R for 24 hours, provided that their card was validated on public transport.
A transitional phase started, and the contracts of MKaart users were transferred to the CFL, which provided them with a temporary pass. This card, which is still in use today, offers the same service, with the added advantage that it is no longer necessary to validate it on public transport.
Customers who arrived later were not so lucky: they are no longer eligible to get the card and have to pay for their parking.
The problem is that this situation should have been resolved quickly, but there has been a delay: the CFL originally announced that a new P+R mobile application would be available by the end of 2021, in order to extend the principle of free parking for 24 hours to all customers who use public transport. It is now April 2023, and the ‘unlucky’ ones are still paying a steep price. For those who opted for the monthly subscription at €85, the cost has already reached close to €1,900 since July 2021.
Over the last few months, our colleagues from RTL 5 Minutes have tried to obtain official explanations from the CFL, initially without success. They then spoke with a customer service agent at the CFL counter in Belval. He seemed just as confused as our colleagues, because each time, he told them that free parking for everyone had been postponed; first to January 2023, then to April, and finally to September 2023.
A reader of RTL 5 Minutes also expressed her anger about the pricing policy at the Belval P+R, believing that it encouraged people to not use the car park (which is often far from full) and therefore “abandon the idea of taking the train or working close to Esch/Belval to go to the capital by car.”
No later than this week, our colleagues noticed that a ‘P+R CFL’ app was released, almost secretly, and without any effect on the pricing policy at the Belval P+R – a highly confusing situation, to say the least.
Fortunately, CFL have agreed to enlighten our colleagues this time, and already provided a first piece of good news: after the new P+R in Rodange was opened on 17 April, the Luxembourg National Railway Company announced a date for the upgrading of the Belval P+R: August 2023. Just as in Rodange, the Belval car park will be equipped with a new “contactless” system.
According to CFL, the new Rodange car park is in fact “the first P+R in service to be equipped with the necessary systems (cash desk, barriers, number plate recognition cameras) for the implementation of contactless parking. “
This car park allows free parking for 24 hours if the user leaves the car park’s perimeter (>1.5km) to continue their journey by train, bus, or other mode of transportation.
Good to know: the CFL also noted that “to continue deepening our knowledge of the user experience with the new car park and the application, the Rodange P+R will be free of charge until 15 May 2023 for all users of the CFL P+R mobile app, even if they do not leave the 1.5km perimeter.”
As for the Belval car park, “various operations have already been started to retrofit the installations (barriers, cash desk, cameras) and thus ensure its compatibility with the new system. These additional installations will be completed in August 2023. Using the Belval P+R in conjunction with the CFL P+R app will then allow commuters to benefit from free parking for 24 hours if they continue their journey by public transportation,” according to the CFL.
In short, motorist will have to remain patient for a little while longer! In any case, it is important to understand that free parking will be reserved for those who leave their vehicle in the car park and then leave Belval by public transport.
This policy makes sense because offering free parking to all without conditions would undoubtedly create a pull factor for opportunists who want to avoid paying for parking in Belval or surrounding municipalities.
As for the P+R Belval app, it has been available for download on Android and iOS since 15 April 2023.
