Minister of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure, François Bausch;

A Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on Strengthening Cooperation in Cross-Border Transport was signed on 20 March 2018 between Elisabeth Borne, France's Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs State, Minister of the Ecological and Solidary Transition, in charge of Transport, and François Bausch, Luxembourg's Minister of Sustainable Development and Infrastructures.

Context

A total of 95,000 French residents work today in Luxembourg. Estimates see their number rise to 135,000 in 2030. In order to implement a transport policy that meets the sustainable development objectives, the Luxembourg government is focusing on alternative and sustainable transport, the only way to ensure sustainable solutions to the growing flow of cross-border workers.

Agreement on the railway domain

In order to promote rail transport, a new Bettembourg - Luxembourg line is being built. At the same time, the development of the new platforms V and VI and the restructuring of the track plan in Luxembourg-Gare will significantly increase the capacity of the Luxembourg city train station. These improvements will be completed by the redevelopment of the Bettembourg station.

On the basis of the evolution of the mobility needs, the hourly contexts and the different projects in Luxembourg and France, a study of the capacity increase was carried out jointly on the Metz - Thionville - Luxembourg axis.

On the 2022-2024 implementation horizon, it is planned to run long trains (UM3), thus offering a total capacity of approximately 1,000 seats per train, compared to an offer of 333 (UM1) or 666 respectively (UM2) currently available.

In France, the following adjustments will have to be made:

• extension of the platforms in the main French stations requiring it;
• strengthening the power supply of the line in France so that all trains can be run in UM3;
• development of two car parks near the Thionville and Longwy stations, with respective capacities of approximately 700 and 660 spaces.

By 2028-2030, the following adjustments will have to be made:

• optimisation of cantonment on both sides of the border, creation of new lane change points and interconnection of signaling facilities at the border;
• removal of level crossings between Thionville and the border;
• recovery of the Thionville station track plan and development of passenger flows;
• adjustments necessary for the smooth flow of freight traffic through the completion of a third lane (freight lock) on both sides of the France-Luxembourg border;
• development of the Metz railway node;
• Complementary interventions on existing infrastructures and stations.

The target offer by 2028-2030 will allow 10 trains per hour and per direction to be run at peak times, i.e. 8 TER (maximum of 8,000 passengers per hour), 1 TGV and 1 freight train. This ambitious objective will make it possible to multiply by 2.5 the number of users currently using the TER.

Agreement on road traffic

In addition to the promotion of rail transport and to promote more sustainable road mobility, the parties agreed to promote the use of public transport by road and carpooling on the Metz-Luxembourg motorway A31 motorway axis. (French side) and A3 (Luxemburg side), and in particular:

• initiate or encourage the establishment of carpooling platforms;
• define, finance and implement a group parking programme for carpoolers;
• define, finance and implement a relay park and bus station program to promote the use of cross-border road transport;
• to study, evaluate and implement, on the A31 motorway (French side) and before enlargement if necessary, the creation of a dedicated public transport lane in place of the existing emergency lane, in line with the project of setting up 2x3 lanes of the A3 motorway.

The programme of grouping car parks for carpooling, relay parks and bus stations, whose project management is intended to be carried by local authorities, will be co-financed by Luxembourg up to a maximum of €10,000,000.

On the Luxembourg side, the law concerning the financing of the two-lane three-lane widening of the A3 motorway and the construction of a reinforced emergency lane (BAU) between the Croix de Gasperich and the French border has was voted on 15 December 2017. This project aims at the development of a route of prioritisation to buses respectively to carpooling and will be realised over the period 2019-2025.

In addition, Luxembourg will assess the need for the introduction of new cross-border services by public road transport to the relay car parks planned in France in addition to the services currently in place, which are fully financed by Luxembourg at a rate of €13,000,000 per year.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg will put in place an efficient mobility solution, thanks to a carpool portal named CoPilote (with a dedicated smartphone app) which will be launched for residents and border workers in the Grand Duchy in April 2018. The aim is to significantly increase the car occupancy rate for commuting. It currently amounts to only 1.2 people per car, resulting in 250,000 empty seats each morning in the direction of Luxembourg City.

This will significantly increase the occupancy rate of individual cars and thus create new transport capacity on the road.

Positive effects on mobility and quality of life

All the above-mentioned measures in the railway sector, in public transport and in carpooling will help develop the cross-border mobility offer and create a strong incentive to use alternative transport (rail, bus, carpooling).

They thus make it possible to offer cross-border commuters advantageous journey times as well as additional capacities compared to the current situation and to reduce daily traffic congestion on our roads.

The primary networks are consolidated, discouraging motorists to take the "small paths" by borrowing the secondary network (national roads, roads taken, even the communal roads). It is then also the neighboring localities that benefit from a gain in the quality of life and urbanity.

Overall, the developments on French territory identified above are the subject of a contribution by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg up to a maximum amount of €120,000,000, of which €110,000,000 is for the railways and €10,000,000 for the promotion of a sustainable mobility policy, with a view to a total contribution of the Luxembourg part equivalent to 50% of the investment costs in France.

"The reduction in car traffic resulting from all these investments significantly offloads urban spaces and significantly increases the quality of life in our cities. It also promotes the economic competitiveness of our country," said Minister François Bausch.