Sunday from the stroke of dawn, traveling by public transport is free in Luxembourg. This makes the small country the first country in the world with free public transport.
The measure is being introduced by the Luxembourg government to make car use less attractive. With 670 cars per thousand inhabitants, Luxembourg is the country in Europe with the most cars per thousand inhabitants, according to figures from Eurostat. The country is known for its large amount of traffic jams.
To encourage residents to leave the car and take the train or bus to work, until 2027 Luxembourg will pump nearly 4 billion euros into the train network. The government expects that the free public transport and additional investments will increase the number of public transport users by 20 percent in the coming five years.
Critics believe that the Luxembourg government’s plan will not have the intended effect. They point out that nothing changes in one of the reasons why there are so many cars on the road in Luxembourg: the cheap fuel prices. Because fuel prices are so low, many motorists from neighboring countries come to Luxembourg to refuel.
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