New railway line Luxembourg-Bettembourg

The new rail line between Luxembourg and Bettembourg involves the construction of a new dual-track section of line, around 7 km long, with no intermediate stops. Starting from the future interchange at Howald, the line first crosses the A3 motorway to the south of the Gasperich interchange and continues westwards to Bettembourg. The line diverges from the motorway to the north of the Berchem motorway service area, bypassing it to the west. It then passes under the RN31 trunk road before crossing the existing Luxembourg-Bettembourg line in the Alzette valley via a cross-over. After crossing the Alzette, the new and existing lines run alongside each other until they reach the northern entrance to Bettembourg station.

The project involves the construction of a series of hydraulic structures and bridges, including two remarkable structures. The first (OA14) is located at the junction with the A3 motorway to the south of Howald and the second (OA05 and OA06), known as the "le saut-de-mouton", is located at the junction with the existing railway line to the north of Bettembourg. This crossing of the two railway lines also requires the existing line to be shifted by around thirty metres in the direction of its old route.

The project takes account of the development constraints of various related projects, such as the future interchange at Howald, the 2x3-lane extension of the A3 motorway, the extension of the Berchem motorway service area, the redevelopment of the Livange interchange (N31), the removal of the level crossing (PN4a) at rue Lentz in Bettembourg, the future multimodal platform at Bettembourg and the new control centre at Bettembourg station.

Key figures

• The cost of the project amounts to 292,013,570.- euros excluding VAT (index 730.85 at 1^st April 2013).
• The total surface area of land to be acquired is approximately 52 ha.
• The new line is designed for a maximum speed of 160 km/h.

In addition to the railway platform with its track, catenary and signaling equipment, the project includes (non-exhaustive list):

• 1 underground carriageway
• 1 cross-over (saut-de-mouton)
• 1 railway bridge
• 4 road bridges
• 6 hydraulic structures
• 13 water retention basins
• 1 wildlife crossing

Objectives

The project for the new railway line between Luxembourg and Bettembourg is part of the implementation of the Modu 2.0 strategy and the IVL (Integratives Verkehrs- und Landesentwicklungskonzept), implementing an integrated mobility concept and aiming to meet the challenges relating to mobility and climate change up to 2020-2030.

An important element of this strategy is the creation of efficient mobility chains with optimised load breaks, enabling different modes of transport to be combined and encouraging the use of public transport, with the aim of increasing the share of public transport to 25%. The concept is based on three links:

• Luxembourg's rail network, the backbone of the system;
• trams, buses, cars and bicycles, making up the distribution and routing channels;
• interchange hubs, or transshipment platforms.

The aim is therefore to create genuine complementarity between public transport, individual transport and soft mobility. The main rail infrastructure measure concerning the southern axes is undoubtedly the doubling of the railway line between Luxembourg and Bettembourg.

With the existing rail line between Luxembourg and Bettembourg reaching saturation point, the new rail line project will significantly increase the capacity of the rail network between Luxembourg and Bettembourg, thus enabling:

• to provide a more efficient link between the south of the country and the developing districts of the capital, particularly Howald;
• to improve both cross-border links with Lorraine and international links (TGV);
• to facilitate freight traffic, and therefore the transport of goods traded between Germany and the Benelux countries with France, Switzerland and Italy.

Current status

The Finance Act was passed on 16 October 2014 on the basis of the ODA.

Now that the civil engineering contracts have been awarded, only the rail equipment remains to be tendered.

Clearing works were carried out in stages in January/February 2015, winter 2015/2016, winter 2016/2017 and winter 2017/2018.

In 2016, archaeological excavations were carried out along the entire route.

Construction work began at the end of 2015.

The following structures/platforms have been built:

• The OA16 subway giving access to the railway triangle at Bettembourg. The structure was built next to the railway tracks. During the weekend of All Saints' Day 2016, the tracks were blocked off and, after a major earthmoving operation, the structure was moved to its final position.
• The OA11 road bridge over the future railway line and its access road.
• The retaining wall near the Berchem site.
• The platform of section 3 over a length of 2.2km.
• The grade separation (OA5 and OA6) and associated hydraulic structures, as well as the relocation of the existing line at the entrance to Bettembourg.
• The wildlife crossing, linking Fennerholz on both sides of the A3 for animal traffic.
• Road bridges OA12 and OA13, over the future railway line and the A3 motorway, to be used for the CR158 crossing and for pedestrians, cyclists and farmers respectively, replacing the existing bridge OA1024 to the south of OA14.

The following projects are currently underway:

• Completion of the platform for section 2, with the construction of the OA7 overpass to allow the railways to travel under the N31 trunk road. Rigid inclusions and hundreds of ballasted columns will be built along the platform route to improve the ground beneath the future tracks. Road traffic on the N31 is being diverted to allow construction of the OA7, for which the shoring is currently being built. Large-scale earthworks and the OH8 and OH9 hydraulic structures began in early 2023. Section 2 is 1.8 km long.
• The platform of section 4 over a length of 2.3km. This section includes the construction of a mixed engineering structure (OA15), which serves on the one hand as an underpass providing vehicular access to the forest between the A3 motorway and the new railway line, and on the other hand as a hydraulic structure enabling the Doulemerbaach to be crossed.
• The OA14 bowstring railway bridge over the A3 motorway. The various metal parts were prefabricated in the workshop, then brought to the site by abnormal loads and assembled on site. This remarkable structure was moved from its pre-assembly platform to its final position during a weekend when the A3 was blocked off in October 2022. This was followed by the sealing of the supports and the concreting of the deck. The structure will be completed in 2023.
• Cycle path 103 at the entrance to Bettembourg. A metal footbridge over the Alzette was installed in April 2023 to connect the PC103 leading from Rue Valérie Strecker-Steffen in Bettembourg to the PC1 running through Kockelscheuer at the Hesperange shooting range by summer 2023.

Initial one-off compensatory measures have been implemented, such as the installation of nest boxes for chiropterans and common dormice and the transfer of amphibian populations.

The wildlife crossing has been completely fitted out in accordance with the recommendations of specialist offices and the Administration de la Nature et des Forêts.

Remodelling of the almost 9-hectare site next to the wildlife crossing, using soil excavated from the railway line, is now complete.  Once the topsoil has been placed, the entire area will be planted with woodland and hedges in line with the wildlife crossing.

Next steps

During the collective summer holiday periods of 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027, the existing ABS railway line at the Bettembourg exit will be temporarily relocated, then connected to the NBS (2026) and permanently remodelled (2027).

From September 2023, the EAM market (Enterprise asset managment, Gestion d’actifs d‘entreprise) will be tendered.

In early 2024, the tender offer for the last platform (section 1) linking Bettembourg station with section 2 will be started.

The gradual entry into service of the new line is scheduled for the end of 2026.

Plans and photos

Situation

Archaeological digs

OA05 et OA06

OA11

OA12

OA16