LUXEMBOURG: An extension of the city of Luxembourg’s tramway 2 km south from Place de l’Etoile to the mainline interchange at Gare Centrale opened on December 13.
There are intermediate stops at Hamilius in the historic centre, and at Place de Metz and Place de Paris along Avenue de la Liberté to the station.
The extension is entirely catenary-free, trams being powered by CAF Power & Automation’s Greentech Freedrive supercapacitors which are recharged at stops by ground-level equipment.
The tramway now has 3·6 km of catenary-free route, minimising the visual impact of the extension on the west side of the historic centre and the Pont Adolphe.
The first wire-free segment opened on July 27 2018, running from Rout Bréck-Pafendall across the Pont Grande-Duchesse Charlotte viaduct over the River Alzette and west via Limpertsberg, Theater to Place de l’Etoile.
The tramway’s first 8 km section opened on December 10 2017 between Luxexpo and Pafendall-Rout Bréck. The rest of the 16 km route comprising extensions south from the station to Cloche d’Or and east from Luxexpo to Luxembourg Airport is expected to be open in 2022-23.
CAF is supplying a further 12 Urbos 3 trams to strengthen the fleet of 21 already in service.
