.png)
Since the beginning of summer, major construction work on several train lines has disrupted the daily commute of many cross-border workers. Between delays, traffic jams, and cancellations, we collected testimonies from members of the Moovijob.com team about their cross-border adventures.
Back to normal across the network
This Monday, 15 September, after more than three months, train traffic has finally returned to normal on all lines. It will even be better than before, as a new TER with 1,000 seats is now running every evening at 5:15pm on the Luxembourg – Metz line. This will help relieve congestion on trains and ensure smoother travel during rush hours.
However, don’t celebrate too soon, as construction work between Luxembourg and Bettembourg will resume from 1 to 10 November, during school holidays in Luxembourg. This will once again impact the Metz – Luxembourg and Esch – Luxembourg lines.
During this hectic period, many cross-border workers struggled to commute between home and work. At Moovijob.com, we were, of course, no exception, so Elisabeth and Maëlle from our team agreed to share their daily experiences and challenges during this time.
Testimony from Maëlle, who takes the Metz – Luxembourg line every day
"How did the construction works affect your daily commute?"
"I live in Metz and commute to Luxembourg every day. Normally, without construction, it takes me between 50 minutes and one hour. With the buses, the journey took an extra 25 to 45 minutes, meaning about 2 hours between the two stations for one way. So in total, I was spending almost 4 to 4.5 hours commuting per day."
"Do you have specific examples of times when it was particularly difficult?"
"For the first time, the works started earlier. I actually thought that since they began in July, they would also end earlier, maybe by August. But no, it just lasted longer.
The real problem was in September. Everyone comes back from vacation, some start new jobs and don’t yet have the option of working remotely. So there were a lot more people than in summer. The last week of the works, starting September 8, was clearly the worst.
The main issue was that the service was poorly organised. When you arrive in Bettembourg, there are several options to reach the buses, but there’s no real line. It’s more like first come, first served.
I remember one particular day when there weren’t enough buses for the number of people. There are several hundred passengers in a single train. The issue was that not all buses stopped at the same place, so even if you arrived early, you weren’t guaranteed a seat on the next bus. On top of that, it was raining, so it was really complicated."
"Did this make you reconsider your mode of transport to work?"
"No, simply because I work in Luxembourg City, so driving would have been just as much of a hassle. If I were working closer to the border, I might have thought differently. But working in Luxembourg City, the train remained the best solution. Remote work also helped me a lot. At Moovijob.com, we have flexibility with working from home, which really eased the commuting burden. Sometimes, I also carpooled with other people driving from Metz."
Testimony from Elisabeth, who takes the Trier – Luxembourg line every day
"How did the construction works affect your daily commute?"
"They affected me a lot. On the first day of the works, I took the replacement bus and ended up arriving at work more than half an hour late compared to usual. So I decided to take the car instead, because it was faster. But in the end, there were many traffic jams since a lot of people also chose to drive instead of taking the bus."
"Did you drive for the entire construction period?"
"No, I alternated between several modes of transport. From Trier to Luxembourg, we had two options: the replacement bus that substituted the train, and the regular bus to Kirchberg. So I alternated between the two buses and the car. The problem was that the Kirchberg bus was often very delayed because of traffic jams."
"Do you have a specific example of a day when it was particularly complicated?"
"Yes, one time when I took the bus to Kirchberg, I thought it would be the better option since it’s supposed to be faster, but it wasn’t at all. We ended up in a village where a road was closed, so the bus had to take a detour through small streets. Then we had to wait because a car was parked in a way that blocked the bus. We had to wait until the driver came out of the building and moved the car before we could continue. That was a real nightmare."
If you too are struggling with your commute and would like to work closer to home, you can find more than 4,500 job offers on Moovijob.com!
