Credit: © CFL, Patrick Flammang

The official inauguration of the new Rodange railway station facilities took place on Tuesday 17 September 2024.

The inauguration went ahead in the presence of Luxembourg's Minister for Mobility and Public Works, Yuriko Backes, the Mayor of Pétange, Jean-Marie Halsdorf, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CFL, Jeannot Waringo, CFL CEO Marc Wengler, the Director of Infrastructure Management Marc Hoffmann, the Director of Infrastructure Investments, Henri Werdel, and the teams in charge of the project. 

The CFL, Luxembourg's national railway company, recalled that the station has undergone "historic" modernisation works "to anticipate the mobility needs of the future and welcome CFL customers with an improved quality of service".

Frequented by more than 6,000 passengers per day, Rodange is the departure station / terminus of the Luxembourg–Esch-sur-Alzette–Rodange line and is crossed by the Luxembourg–Bascharage-Sanem–Rodange–Athus/Longwy line. It is also crossed by the European North Sea–Mediterranean rail freight corridor.

In the context of "exponential" growth in train use (+100% of passengers between 2005 and 2023) and the imperative of modal shift from road to rail, the CFL said it was modernising and expanding the rail network to arrive at a new operating concept symbolised by several major projects including that of Rodange.

"The government intends to maintain a high level of investment in the rail network, a key element of national mobility," said Minister Backes.

As reported by the CFL, trains, having facilitated the daily travel of some 28.7 million passengers in 2023, help to reduce road congestion and play a "crucial" role in achieving multimodal mobility and improving quality of life. The CFL added that rail travel also contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. the development of railway infrastructure thus "remains essential to reconcile demographic growth, economic competitiveness and environmental requirements".

"We are delighted to welcome the resident population and cross-border workers to this new version of Rodange station with services that match our corporate strategy designed around the needs of our customers," stated Marc Wengler, CEO of CFL. "While we will gradually increase the number of our seats by 46% thanks to our 34 new Coradia railcars, we are proud to be creating new mobility hubs at a regular pace. After inaugurating the Mersch interchange in 2023, it is now in Rodange that we are sending a new strong signal to encourage multimodality on a daily basis, namely an intelligent combination of individual transport and public transport in a context of urgent reduction in carbon emissions linked to mobility."

Following the partial commissioning of passenger infrastructure in April 2023, major works started in mid-2019 in Rodange and, now completed, reflect the system applied by the CFL in the country's main stations, with the main elements being the addition of capacity (tracks and platforms), the extension of platforms and the separation of the different lines with platforms allocated to them.

Moreover, the CFL explained that avoiding trains from different lines crossing paths within the same station "goes hand in hand" with the railway company's desire to maintain sustained rates (1,000 trains running daily on the rail network) while avoiding a "domino effect", i.e. the possible transfer of a delay from one train to another.

"The overhaul of the country's main stations also makes it possible to modernise all railway facilities, to untangle the entry and exit of trains from different lines in stations and to gain flexibility in train operations, particularly at peak times," added Marc Hoffmann, Director of Infrastructure Management, and Henri Werdel, Director of Infrastructure Investments at CFL.

The main developments at Rodange station are as follows:

- renewal of seven tracks (6 km of track) and eighteen points to operate trains on the two lines separately, limit their crossing and improve punctuality;

- construction of an additional platform track exclusively dedicated to trains on the Luxembourg–Esch-sur-Alzette–Rodange route;

- adaptation and extension (250-500 metres in length) of the three platforms to accommodate longer trains such as the future Coradia Stream High Capacity (up to nine cars and more than 1,000 seats in a multiple unit) or the TGVs that passed through Rodange this summer as part of the work carried out on the Luxembourg–Bettembourg section. The three platforms are equipped with canopies to protect customers from bad weather;

- addition of an underground passage to the east of the station and renewal of the western underground passage (connected by a pedestrian path to the P+R and adapted in anticipation of the connection of the future district developed around the special development plan Rue de l’Industrie to Rodange station) for barrier-free access to the platforms;

- emphasis on accessibility in this station labelled “Eurewelcome Luxembourg” (access for people with reduced mobility via two lifts in the western underground passage, direct access to the platforms via the three elevators of the new footbridge, access to the stairs, lighting, tactile signage, safety equipment);

- renewal of the bus station with three bus stops.

The CFL noted that the passenger building of Rodange station will also benefit from major renovations in the near future, for added comfort.

Other mobility solutions at Rodange station include:

- a 41,000 m2 CFL P+R spread over seven levels (in service since April 2023);

- a CFL car-sharing service "Flex" station with ten spaces;

- two "bikeboxes" offering a 32 secure spaces for bicycles;

- a taxi service and Kiss & Go zone on the station forecourt;

- the station is equipped with WiFi and a "Snack O' Quai" vending machine.