French municipalities bordering Luxembourg to offer free transport to commuters

The service will operate during peak hours in the morning and evening

Luxembourg is the only country in the world to offer entirely free public transport. For thousands of commuters, who live in France and work in the Grand Duchy though, this benefit is only partial since once they reach the border, they have to find other means of paid transport to get back home.

That’s why, six French communities located near the border and many of whose residents work in Luxembourg have decided to band together and also offer a free shuttle for daily workers. The aim of the pilot scheme, which will initially run for six months, is not only to provide benefits to the commuters but also to lessen traffic on the road linking both countries. Thus, there’s also an environmental slant to it.

“Road traffic has increased tenfold while the road network has not been modernised,” said Roland Balcerzak, mayor of Hettange-Grande and one of the plan’s proponents, as quoted by Luxtimes.

The project is collectively offered by a municipal community called Communauté de Communes de Cattenom et Environs, which consists of six municipalities. The estimated cost of the scheme will be 730,000 euros.

Cross-border travel – still not a smooth ride

The way the free shuttle will work is that it will collect commuters from the six villages, and it will then drop them off in Mondorff near the border. They will have to cross the border on foot to Mondorf-les-Bains, from where they can take the Grand Duchy’s free public transport network to their destination.

Even though more than 120,000 French workers make the daily commute to Luxembourg, the transport links between the two countries are not as developed as they should be.

Last year, governments in the two countries said they would work to increase train services to run every 10 minutes between Metz and Luxembourg City by 2030. There’s also a plan to extend Luxembourg City’s tram service to reach all the way to the border – a trip that would take only 30 minutes when ready.