Robo-buses in Belval: launch postponed again, but tests continue

The launch of the first autonomous shuttles in Luxembourg has been delayed again: according to the latest data, they will start carrying passengers by the end of the first half of 2025. These autonomous CFL minibuses have been tested in Belval for a year now. They were originally scheduled to go into service as early as 2023, then pushed back to the end of 2024, and now a few more months.

As CFL explained, the postponement is not due to technical failures, but to the desire to continue testing together with the supplier HMI Technologies and to adapt the system to real-world conditions as much as possible. The passengerless tests include simulations of various abnormal situations, from a branch falling on the road and poorly parked cars to the sudden activation of the emergency brake. After each such scenario, the LIDAR sensor system is tuned and re-evaluated.

Autonomous shuttles will run along a 2.3-kilometre route between the University of Luxembourg and the Waassertrap nursing home, passing through the station and the Bel-Val lycée. These are small air-conditioned buses with eight seats, accessible to people with disabilities. They will be driven by artificial intelligence, but each bus will still have a so-called safety steward. Their task is to be on standby in case of an emergency and to help passengers if necessary.

The Belval project is a pilot initiative and is planned to be thoroughly analysed before scaling up. According to CFL representatives, autonomous transport can be an important element of a last-mile strategy - when a customer needs to be transported from a train station to his or her destination without transfers or waiting.