Since March 1, 2020, Luxembourg has been the first country in the world where all public transport is free, except first class on trains.
An ecological measure, but above all social, which is the pride of the residents of the country, but whose success is difficult to quantify, the fault of the health crisis.
Despite this free, the car still reigns supreme, considered essential and practical by most residents.
From our special envoy in Luxembourg,
Anne searches, runs into the station, snoops again, begins to panic then slips into the ear of a controller.
“Excuse me sir, but where do you buy tickets for the tram?
".
Half-benevolent half-sarcastic smile of the man, accustomed to the question: “We don't buy them.
But you can always give the driver 2 euros, he will be happy.
Since March 2020, Luxembourg has been the first country in the world where all public transport is free: the train – except first class –, the bus and the tram that Anne wishes to take.
" Are you sure ?
she asks, fearing a bad joke.
Because all this seems a bit incongruous compared to his native France, entangled in debates on the price of trains, the increase in the Navigo pass,
Luxembourg station looks like all the others: couples meet there or separate there, workers in suits and ties set foot on the ground with four-day dark circles, the toilets are paying - why not, after all?
- and passengers are desperately looking for their platform.
But here, we jump on the trains as we enter a mill, without ticket or payment.
Immovable cars
The balance sheet of the measure is difficult to estimate, the fault of this damn coronavirus.
A few days after the introduction of this free service, the Lux' plunged into confinement.
And even almost three years later, teleworking makes comparisons irrelevant: 25 million train journeys were made in 2019 in the Grand Duchy, compared to 16.6 million in 2021 without any conclusions being drawn. , says Merlin Gillard, doctoral student and co-author of a report on the impact of free transport.
“Even once deconfined, we were afraid of crowded public transport.
The Covid-19 has weighed down the measure a bit, ”explains Laura, 31, who is struggling to let go of her car.
Walking in the frozen streets, it is clear that if free is attractive, it does not work miracles either: the roads of the capital are still bottled.
Laura would talk about her Opel Grandland X with the same emotion as we do about Mbappé's equalizer against Argentina, and it doesn't matter if the petrol is paying.
To convince us that it's worth it, the native Frenchwoman offers us the best of demonstrations: we travel from the station to her home by car, and the return by public transport.
“Traffic jam or not, I have 15 minutes with my Opel, leaving when I want work.
I don't have to wait for the bus, my car is never on strike or late, and when I go to sports I can easily carry my things.
The car is freedom and efficiency.
»
Nice to the end, she even puts the heater on for our frozen little hands.
Goshia, her Polish roommate, almost apologizes for the still so frequent use of the car: "We may seem spoiled children, but in Luxembourg, we all have a good salary, we can afford to squander it a little in gasoline, there is enough left to live well.
»
Convenience more than free
On the return, we can only agree with them: a bus, free or not, remains a damn bus with all its faults.
The crying child, the little old woman to whom you have to give up the seat, the people who talk too loudly.
In a less misanthropic way, a less than optimal route.
And above all, a passage only every half hour, which guarantees both waiting and the crowded bus.
Asked by
20 Minutes
, the Minister of Mobility, François Bausch, recognizes this: “Playing only on prices will never be enough, you also and above all need a good quality of offer, service and transport.
The minister is aiming for nothing other than "having the best public transport in Europe".
For this, the country has embarked on major works.
Luxembourg, which spends 500 euros per inhabitant each year on its rail network - a European record - has seen its bus network expand by 30% since 2019, and its tram line largely extended within the capital and passing finally by the central station.
For Marine, on site for five years, this latest extension is “much more convincing than free.
I take the tram for practicality, and not for the sake of economy”.
François Bausch refers to the new express bus lines, to reduced travel times, to better thought out stops – station, connection with the tram… – and to higher speeds.
These lines are 20 to 25% busier than the old ones.
Free is therefore not the end, but the icing on the cake of great investments.
"The price of the tickets only covered 8% of the costs, we thought it would be better to abolish them directly in view of the benefit in terms of promoting public transport and raising awareness of the population", indicates the Minister.
This 8% weighed “40 million euros in 2019, a negligible amount on the national budget”, continues Merlin Gillard.
A social measure above all
Even Laura leaves her beloved car from time to time when entering the capital: “It's a hassle to park, and there are a lot of traffic jams.
The good plan is to park a little outside the center, then take the tram or a bus” Merlin Gillard agrees: “What has an impact on car travel is its ease of use to her, not the ease of use of public transport, even free.
Of course, you need efficient and reliable public transport, but if you want to reduce the number of trips by car, you have to make it more difficult to use.
»
Jordan, 29, including three in Luxembourg, does not have the financial well-being of the two roommates and sees the interest of free admission when it is -2°C on this freezing December afternoon.
“If I had to pay to get around, I would probably have given up heating a bit.
Even more than ecology or the decongestion of cities, it is a social measure, ”explains this resident of Diekirch, who travels fifty minutes by train every day to work in the capital.
Same observation with Merlin Gillard: “According to the National Institute of Statistics, it is the less well-off who would benefit from free transport, even if only 40% of all households in the country had public transport expenses in 2017. is a redistributive measure from a social point of view.
" Seeing countries like Germany or Spain slash the price of their train tickets in this period of inflation, François Bausch cannot help thinking that they "were right to establish free, especially to help in the fight for purchasing power".
Many residents evoke “national pride”, but beware, the model is not necessarily reproducible elsewhere, even if we think of Luxembourg as a large agglomeration.
Far from 8% of the country,
And rurality in all this?
In such economic times, free can also be a source of tension.
The country's two main unions are thus denouncing the future abolition of certain bus lines serving industrial areas at shift change times.
According to the Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions, at least 1,000 workers would bear the brunt of this choice.
The ministry justifies itself by noting that “the maximum occupancy of a line to a site was 15 to 16 people on average, spread over all the races carried out over a day.
For most of these lines, this average was well below 10 people.
Occupancy is therefore extremely low”.
The ministry also considers that “the role of the State does not consist in setting up a transport service dedicated to the needs of a private company.
»
Not enough to convince Pierre, one of the employees concerned.
He has a head for bad days and a loose tongue when speaking on the subject: "It's very nice to make transport free, but if it's to put 50 more bus lines in the capital and leave the rural areas, I prefer to pay my ticket.
With free transport, we are all the more looking for profitable and full transport.
But short lines for three people like us was good too.
»
Luxembourg (City) is by far the one that benefits the most from the measure.
At the Christmas market, where mulled wine brings smiles, Laura has long since stopped counting glasses.
And she is very happy to have left her faithful Opel in the garage for the occasion.
“We can drink well and go home without paying and without risk, isn't life beautiful?
In Luxembourg, free public transport has its benefits and its limits, but also its simple little joys.
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