Will France-Luxembourg high-speed railway be built and when?

On November 27, Emmanuel Macron announced that the RER — a mixture of metro and suburban trains in Paris — would expand to 10 more French cities. In this regard, the elected representatives of Lorraine, a large French region, are proposing to expand the RER even further. And turn it into a European network of intercity express trains, with the first line linking France and Luxembourg.

President Macron has not yet named specific cities that will be affected by the RER expansion. Representatives of Lorraine suggest that the expansion will affect at least Nancy and Metz, and possibly the agglomerations of Thionville and Épinal. And ideally, they hope that the network of intercity express trains and its high-speed railway will improve and speed up the Nancy-Metz-Thionville-Luxembourg connection.

This is the second busiest train route in the country, according to municipalities. It needs support and development. The Department of Transportation’s current plan is to carry 13 000 peak-hour passengers by 2024, 24 000 by 2030. It does not cover the needs of the region. Lorraine hopes that the state will make the development of the RER into a network of European express trains a priority. The region has already sent a letter with such a request to President Macron.

But so far, even the RER development plans themselves have not been specified. There is no talk of creating a high-speed highway between Nancy and Luxembourg. Despite the fact that for both countries it would be a big plus. A fast railway would help cross-border workers from France to easily reach Luxembourg. In addition, it is an environmentally friendly solution. The more people use trains instead of cars, the smaller the CO2 emissions and carbon footprint of France itself become.