CFL to Adapt Night Schedule for New Train Commissioning

On Tuesday 23 April 2024, Luxembourg's national railway company, the CFL, announced that certain nighttime rail connections will be cancelled between Monday 29 April and 1 July 2024. 

While the tests for the approval of the 34 “Coradia Stream High Capacity” railcars were completed in a three-car configuration (single unit), the tests for their deployment as a multiple unit with six or nine cars respectively (accommodating more than 1,000 passengers in a single train), will be carried out from Monday 29 April 2024 on the Northern line.

Carrying out these tests will occasionally require the cancellation of certain trains after 23:00 during the period from 29 April to 1 July 2024 on the Northern line, more precisely on the Luxembourg – Diekirch, Kautenbach – Wiltz and Luxembourg – Troisvierges connections, the CFL noted.

This adaptation to the reduction in rail supply to and from the north of the country is due to the specific test environment necessary to verify the compatibility of the new equipment with the rail infrastructure, in particular the electrical power supply system.

“In order to collect reliable data, we must carry out these tests without the circulation of other railway vehicles using the same catenary on the section concerned with the line declared as a test track,” explained Mike Strotz, project manager for the implementation of the Coradia Stream High Capacity service to CFL. “As a result, the tests are carried out at night, outside of regular passenger train traffic.”

The elimination of certain trains during the lowest traffic hours aims to allow the CFL and its supplier ALSTOM to have the necessary periods for carrying out tests and rapid commissioning of the new trains.

During the testing period, the CFL will make replacement buses available to their customers. For further information regarding the dates of the tests and the substitution offer put in place, customers should consult the website www.cfl.lu or the CFL mobile application.

As a reminder, the gradual commissioning of the 34 new railcars ordered in 2018 from the supplier ALSTOM will allow the CFL to offer 46% more seats by 2025-2026. Added to this is the gradual replacement of older generation 2000 series (“Z2”) railcars, thus allowing a significant increase in the level of comfort on board the train (air conditioning, WiFi connection on board, USB-C sockets, more bicycle spaces).

The new trains will be put into service in a single unit (three cars) during the first half of 2024 while awaiting the end of the tests and the commercial entry into service in a configuration of six or even nine cars (multiple units) which will take place during the first half of 2025.