Although Luxembourg took first place, in no small part due to the fact that public transport fares are free, the study revealed a number of other points where the Grand Duchy could still improve.
Malta, which also has free public transport, was ranked second, followed by Austria, Germany, Cyprus and Spain. In 21st place, France is classed at the same level as Finland, Italy and Slovakia. Switzerland was seventh, and Belgium came 12th. Bulgaria was rated bottom.
In the ranking, published in May, Greenpeace welcomed what it deemed “relatively affordable tickets” that can be used nationwide in Germany, Austria and Hungary. It also noted only Germany, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary, the Netherlands and Switzerland offer passengers a simple long-term ticketing system valid for most means of transport for at least a month. The organisation said it was awaiting further details on the “single ticket” planned by the French government.
Among the capitals, Luxembourg, Tallinn and Valletta were ranked first due to free transport, followed by Prague, Bratislava, Madrid and Rome. Brussels was ranked 13th, while the most expensive cities for public transport were Paris, London, Amsterdam and Dublin.
The study revealed that public transport is still too expensive in most countries and cities in Europe.
Although Greenpeace highlighted Luxembourg’s efforts to make public transport more accessible to everyone, it also pointed out that free public transport, introduced in 2020, “has not yet led to a significant shift from car use to public transport”. However, the organisation attributed this to Luxembourg’s unusually high cross-border commuter traffic.
Luxembourg’s mobility issues continue to have both environmental and financial impact, says Greenpeace, as traffic jams generate significant financial losses. It estimated the cost of mobility issues in Luxembourg to reach around 1.436 billion euros per year, or 3.3% of the country’s GDP.
Greenpeace is pushing for a Europe-wide single “climate ticket”, set at an affordable price, similar to the tickets recently introduced across Germany. Campaigner Lorelei Limousin said: “Governments must introduce simple and affordable ‘climate tickets’ for public transport, to cut people’s bills and to reduce the oil use driving our planet towards climate disaster.”
