TICE operator in Luxembourg on the verge of change

The Tageblatt newspaper published an article on 10 February about an exchange of letters between the Luxembourg Minister of Mobility and Public Works and the president of the inter-communal transport union TICE. The discussions centred on the future of the financing of the bus transport operator TICE, which is facing the need to adapt to economic and environmental challenges.

From January 2023, negotiations are underway to review the financial convention between the ministry and TICE management. This is necessary to maintain the stability of the bus service in the face of the growing public transport network. The expansion of routes in the southern regions of the country, planned for December 2025, will require significant resources and structural changes.

Today, the TICE infrastructure is overstretched: both in managing a large bus fleet and in providing adequate working conditions for staff. The union has therefore taken a strategic decision to stop operating school bus routes from December 2025. In return, the Ministry of Mobility will transfer these lines to the RGTR system, as has already been done in other regions of the country. The timetables and routes of the school buses will remain unchanged.

One of the issues that sparked discussion was the prospect of a mixed syndicate (syndicat mixte) for transport management. Unions fear that this could affect the working conditions of TICE employees or even lead to partial privatisation. However, the ministry assures that such fears are unfounded.

In the case of a mixed syndicate, the labour contracts of current employees will be transferred to a new legal status similar to that applied in the case of a commune merger. Thus, the status of municipal employees working for TICE would remain unchanged. In addition, the new convention defining the routes to be served by TICE over the next 10 years ensures that the organisation remains public and sustainable.

Official negotiations between TICE and the Ministry of Mobility are ongoing and both parties are confident that an agreement can be reached that will secure the future of the company. The main objective is to adapt the bus service to the needs of the population in the south of the country and to improve the quality of service.

However, in the midst of these discussions, an internal document was leaked, which displeased both sides. Ministry and TICE representatives stressed that the dissemination of unofficial information was detrimental to constructive dialogue and prevented a mutually acceptable solution from being reached. Until the document was published, all parties involved, including political structures and employee representation, had not had time to receive official information about the current state of negotiations.