Credit: CFL

On Monday 10 June 2024, Luxembourg's national railway company, the CFL, presented its annual results for 2023.

The CFL recalled that it was thanks to the commitment and know-how of its 5,125 employees as well as the trust of its three shareholders (Belgian State, French State and Luxembourgish State) that the group is pursuing a cycle of historic investments and continues to expand its portfolio of "safe, quality, innovative and sustainable" mobility solutions in response to customer demand and collective societal and environmental issues.

The main achievements of the 2023 financial year were summarised as follows:

- CFL trains transported a record 28.7 million passengers (compared to 22 million in 2022);

- the CFL hired 515 people (385 in 2022);

- the CFL reported a record turnover of €1.134 billion and a net profit of €18.3 million;

- ten new Traxx MS3 locomotives were approved (for freight activities);

- 2,000 new parking spaces were created in Rodange and Mersch (6,974 spaces across all CFL car parks);

- the gradual commissioning of the 34 Coradia railcars were finalised (for passenger activities).

"We are staying the course to perpetuate the essential role of the CFL in mobility in Luxembourg and neighbouring regions," stated Jeannot Waringo, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CFL Group. "The future of our group relies on a new cycle of investments in infrastructure, rolling stock, technological tools and of course in the know-how and well-being of our agents to anticipate future mobility needs and accelerate the modal shift from road to rail." He also highlighted the role of "good collaboration" with the group's shareholders in carrying out such pro.

"Preparing for the future also means continuing to diversify our group with a range of complementary activities and services, in other words by making multimodality one of the trademarks of our projects and a daily reflex for our customers," declares Marc Wengler, Chief Executive Officer of CFL. He thanked CFL's employees "for their commitment" and customers "for their trust" in 2023, later adding: "Our ambitious agenda and our ongoing efforts tend towards a single objective: to be the leading mobility partner for our individual and professional customers."

New hires

In 2023, the country's largest private employer exceeded its initial objective of 500 hires by welcoming 515 new colleagues on board. The CFL provided its staff with 22,353 hours of training in 2023 and revised its internal mobility framework to promote the dynamics of the talent pool.

Passenger numbers

The growth in the number of passengers in 2023 was observed on all lines with 7.3 million train-kilometres completed (7.1 million in 2022). The Luxembourg – Esch-sur-Alzette – Rodange line remained the busiest, with the largest increase (+45%) being noted on the Lorraine cross-border line (Luxembourg - Bettembourg - Metz/Nancy). Marc Hoffmann, Director of Passenger Activities at CFL, noted that attendance on CFL trains had increased by 14.8% over four years - or an annual growth of 3.5%.

Punctuality

In 2023, the punctuality of CFL trains was 90.1%, a slight decrease compared to 2022 (90.5%). The CFL reaffirmed its objective of achieving 92% punctuality for its trains. The group recalled that punctuality depends on several factors on a rail network welcoming an increasing number of passenger and freight trains and whose activity is influenced by that of foreign networks (Belgium, France, Germany), particularly in the event of a strike (94 cumulative days of strikes in 2023) and by the progress of the large-scale works programme. At the same time, the CFL noted that tangible results on certain criteria were achieved such as a 22% reduction in 2023 in cancellations due to a technical problem on a train and a 6% reduction in cancellations due to failures on the railway infrastructure.

Multimodality and complementary services

In addition to train travel services which constitute CFL's core business, the other aspects of passenger activities reflected the "favourable" context for the group in 2023: 3.5 million passengers on CFL's 80 buses ( 3.4 million in 2022); an increase of 25% in subscribers for the Flex subsidiary offering car sharing solutions; an increase of 27% in turnover for the travel agency CFL Evasion; 9,470 cyclists assisted during the "Vëlosummer" programme (9,417 in 2022).

The CFL also launched its new cycling strategy in 2023 to better meet the needs of cycling customers and last December took over the management of the national network of 73 secure "bikebox" bicycle parking spaces which offer 1,614 free parking spaces.

Moreover, the group opened the first CFL cactus shoppi point of sale in Luxembourg Railway Station (Gare) in May 2023, followed by the establishment of a network of "Snack O'Quai" vending machines on train platforms from the end of October.

Investments

The CFL's own investments reached a record €140.5 million in 2023 (+59.1% compared to 2022), centred around three major projects: the acquisition of 34 new Coradia trains which will increase the number of seats by 46% (with progressive entry into service between 2024 and 2026 and a budget of €400 million); the modernisation of ten TER2N-ng railcars as part of their "mid-life" operation (two returns to service in 2023); the inauguration of Hall 4 on the site of the storage and maintenance centre in Luxembourg-Bonnevoie, mainly for the upkeep and maintenance of the Coradia.

In 2023, the Luxembourg State and the CFL signed a new public service contract relating to rail passenger activities for the period 2025-2039. Depending on different quality criteria, according to the CFL, this contract provides the necessary framework for continuing to improve the quality of service offered to customers.

Overall investments in the rail network amounted to €256.3 million (excluding VAT) in 2023 (€280.2 million in 2022). Various projects were completed last year, including the commissioning of 2,000 parking spaces at the new P+R at Rodange and Mersch stations. The Mersch station has also been renovated and transformed into a new interchange hub.

Moreover, CFL teams were on the ground for 301 days (364 days in 2022) to modernise and renew the rail infrastructure. Numerous upkeep and maintenance works on the existing rail network were carried out to ensure safety and availability as well.

Freight activities

Despite an economic and geopolitical environment which remains "delicate" (strikes on foreign networks, etc.), the CFL's freight activities (present in five countries in Europe) maintained a turnover of €262.2 million (-0.8% compared to 2022). The net profit of the CFL freight group amounted to €0.6 million in 2023 (€1.1 million in 2022).

Among the different freight activity components, two results supported the CFL's long-term approach in favour of the modal shift in the transport of goods from road to rail and in the development of a trimodal offer (rail/road/river) to and from the main European ports. The operator of the Lorry-Rail railway motorway (owned by the CFL, SNCF and Lohr) collected a net result of €2.8 million and contributed €1 million to the net result of the CFL Group. Similarly, the main operator of the Port of Mertert, the Luxport Group (in which CFL made a substantial stake in January 2023), posted a net result of €1 million and a contribution of €0.5 million to the CFL Group's net income.

Among the major investments for the benefit of the CFL's freight activities were ten new Traxx MS3 locomotives approved in 2023 (for Luxembourg, Germany and Poland).

The CFL recalled the importance of supporting rail freight in Europe: in 2023, 86,972 road shipments were transferred to rail (84,033 in 2022) and 115,316 equivalent tonnes of CO2 saved by CFL intermodal (+16.2% compared to 2022).

Financial results

The CFL Group's net turnover increased by 5.7% and is distributed as follows: 34.5% from passenger activities, 42.1% in relation to projects of the Rail Fund, the management of railway infrastructure and real estate assets, and 23.1% contribution from freight activities. The net profit of the group for the 2023 financial year stood at €18.3 million (€13 million in 2022).

Safety

The CFL concluded by recalling that its "absolute priority" is the safety of its customers and staff; this is the subject of an internal culture to achieve the "0 accident" vision. The CFL is thus mobilising to develop the maturity of its safety culture, efforts evidenced by the results of a survey carried out in 2023 by the company dss+ showing the move of some of employees from the "dependent" to the "independent" phase, i.e. a default integration of security rules and behaviours. These efforts also resulted in two "encouraging" results in 2023: three years without a work accident with lost time at CFL logistics and two years without accidents at CFL technics.