Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg | |||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||
Location |
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Coordinates | 49°37′07″N06°07′58″E / 49.61861°N 6.13278°E | ||||||||||
Operated by | CFL | ||||||||||
Line(s) | CFL Line 10 | ||||||||||
Platforms | 2 | ||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
Train operators | CFL, SNCB | ||||||||||
Connections | LUXTRAM tram line T1 AVL bus lines 6, 12, 16, 18, 21, 23, 26, 32 RGTR bus lines 111, 112, 201, 211, 221, 811, 812 | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Bicycle facilities |
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Other information | |||||||||||
Website | CFL | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | 10 December 2017 | ||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||
2022 | 1,183,133 [1] | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
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Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg railway station (Luxembourgish: Gare Pafendall-Kierchbierg; French: Gare de Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg; German: Bahnhof Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg) is a rail station on CFL Line 10, in the north of Luxembourg City which opened in December 2017. It is located on Rue Saint-Mathieu in the Pfaffenthal valley, below the Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge, overlooking the Alzette River. The Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL), the state-owned rail company, operates both the station and the associated funicular line, which links the station to the Kirchberg plateau. [2]
Plans for the railway station, the funicular and the tramway projects were presented in September 2011 as part of the Luxembourg government's wider sustainable mobility strategy. The aim is to reduce travel time for cross border and domestic rail commuters to the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, the location of many European Union (EU) institutions, including the Court of Justice of the European Union, and a growing commercial sector and resident population. Prior to completion, rail commuters to the Kirchberg plateau would have to alight at the central Luxembourg station and make a further commute across the city. [3] The pre-construction analysis took place between 2013 and 2014, [4] with construction works spanning from March 2015, to late 2017. [5] [6] The station and the accompanying funicular line is estimated, at the time of construction, to have cost 96 million euros. [3]
Step-free access is available throughout the station. Elevators and escalators connect both platforms to the enclosed footbridge for interchanges, with further elevators providing access from the Rue St Mathieu entrance to platform 2 and the footbridge, and the funicular above platform 1 providing access from Avenue J.F. Kennedy to the station. [4] Due to the decision not to charge passengers for use of the funicular, the funicular, via the station provides a step-free access route for pedestrians and cyclists from the Kirchberg plateau to the Pfaffenthal valley below.
Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg station is currently served by five trains per hour and per direction from the InterCity (IC), Regional-Express (RE) and Regionalbahn (RB) services. [7] [8]
According to Luxembourg's national mobility plan for 2035, Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg station will be served by six trains per hour, each with a direct connection to the south of the country through Luxembourg railway station. [9]
The station is served by the Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg funicular which makes the steep ascent to the main thoroughfare on the Kirchberg plateau, Avenue John F. Kennedy, allowing for use of the connecting tram stop Rout Bréck - Pafendall. In addition, a range of bus services are available from the Kirchberg side of the funicular station, including the municipal AVL lines 6, 12, 16, 18, 21 and 32 and regional RGTR lines 111, 112, 201, 211, 221, 811 and 812. On the opposite side, in the Pfaffenthal valley, the Rue St Mathieu entrance to the station is served by the AVL 23 and 26 bus lines. [10]
Located a short walk from the station's Rue St Mathieu entrance, across the Alzette river, on the opposite side of the valley is the Pfaffenthal Panoramic Elevator, a public elevator providing a connection to the Pescatore Foundation Park in Ville Haute. [11]
The Pffafenthal entrance to the station includes 44 cycle parking spaces and 56 secure paid cycle parking spaces, whilst the Kirchberg entrance has capacity for 53 cycle parking spaces, and 56 secure paid cycle parking spaces. [12]
Transport in Luxembourg is ensured principally by road, rail and air. There are also services along the river Moselle which forms the border with Germany. The road network has been significantly modernised in recent years with motorways to adjacent countries. The advent of the high-speed TGV link to Paris has led to renovation of the capital's main railway station while a new Schengen-only passenger terminal at Luxembourg Airport opened in 2017. Trams in the capital were reintroduced in December 2017 and there are plans for light-rail and/or tram-train lines in adjacent areas.
Luxembourg, also known as Luxembourg City, is the capital city of Luxembourg and the country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxembourg, the city lies at the heart of Western Europe, situated 213 km (132 mi) by road from Brussels and 209 km (130 mi) from Cologne. The city contains Luxembourg Castle, established by the Franks in the Early Middle Ages, around which a settlement developed.
Kirchberg is a quarter in north-eastern Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It consists of a plateau overlooking the north-east of the historical city center, Ville Haute, connected to the rest of the elevated city by the Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge, which spans the Pfaffenthal valley. It is often referred to, in reference to the geographical feature it inhabits, as the Kirchberg plateau by Luxembourgish residents. Kirchberg is the predominant location of the European Union institutions and bodies based within Luxembourg, and is sometimes used as a metonym for the EU's judiciary, which occupies the quarter. It is thus the central business district of Luxembourg.
The Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois is the national railway company of Luxembourg. In 2023, it carried approximately 28.7 million passengers. As of 2023, the company employs around 5,000 people, making CFL the country's largest corporate employer.
Brussels-Central railway station is a railway and metro station in central Brussels, Belgium. It is the second busiest railway station in Belgium and one of three principal railway stations in Brussels, together with Brussels-South and Brussels-North. First completed in 1952 after protracted delays caused by economic difficulties and World War II, it is the newest of Brussels' main rail hubs.
Pfaffenthal is a quarter in central Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. The quarter owes its name to the German words Pfaffen, meaning monk, and Tal, meaning valley, as the area was once administered by the Benedictine Abbey in Altmunster. During the Middle Ages, this site was popular with craftsmen and artisans, who used the Alzette River to aid in their work. The site is a strategically important gateway to Luxembourg City, and was thus repeatedly fortified by successive rulers from about the fourteenth to eighteenth centuries.
Luxembourg railway station is the main railway station serving Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is operated by Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois, the state-owned railway company. 80,000 passengers use this station every day.
The Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge is a road bridge in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It carries the N51 across the Alzette, connecting Avenue John F. Kennedy, in Kirchberg, to Boulevard Robert Schuman, in Limpertsberg. The bridge is also known as the Red Bridge on account of its distinctive red paintwork. It is the main route connecting the city centre, Ville Haute, to Kirchberg, the site of the city's European Union institutions.
Pétange railway station is a railway station serving Pétange, in south-western Luxembourg. It is operated by Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois, the state-owned railway company.
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Bascharage-Sanem railway station is a railway station serving the towns of Bascharage and Sanem, in the south-west of Luxembourg. It is operated by Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois, the state-owned railway company.
Troisvierges railway station is a railway station serving Troisvierges, in northern Luxembourg. It is operated by Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois, the state-owned railway company.
The first generation of trams in Luxembourg ran from 1875 to 1964, before they were withdrawn from service and the tramways removed. A second generation of trams began operational service on 10 December 2017, along a new route that will, by early 2025, run from Luxembourg Airport to the Cloche d'Or business district, in Gasperich, serving the new national stadium, via Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg and Luxembourg railway stations. Additional lines are planned for the network both within Luxembourg City, as well as extending to Strassen and Esch-sur-Alzette.
Mascouche station is a commuter rail station operated by Exo in Mascouche, Quebec, Canada, a suburb north of Montreal, Quebec.
Virton railway station is a railway station in Virton, Luxembourg, Belgium. It is located on railway line 165, from Athus to Libramont. It was commissioned in 1879 by the Society of Railway Virton, and was formerly called Virton-Saint-Mard railway station. It is operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB/NMBS) and served by the following types of trains: Omnibus (L) and Rush Hour trains (P).
The Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg funicular is an automated funicular in Luxembourg City. The line links Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg railway station, on Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL) Line 10, to Rout Bréck – Pafendall tram stop, on Luxtram, near the European Investment Bank headquarters. The line is adjacent to the landmark Grand Duchess Charlotte Bridge, which is crossed by the tram line and which passes over the railway line.
The Pfaffenthal Panoramic Elevator is a public elevator in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg which connects the city quarters of Ville Haute, the historical city center, with Pfaffenthal, in the Alzette valley below. It offers its passengers panoramic views of the Alzette River valley. The Pfaffenthal elevator, together with the Grund public elevator, and the Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg funicular, form Luxembourg City's three cable transport modes connecting its elevated city with city quarters located in the Alzette and Pétrusse river valleys.
The Jean Monnet 2 building is a future office complex for the European Commission under construction on Boulevard Konrad Adenauer in the European district of the Luxembourg City quarter of Kirchberg, Luxembourg. The complex is to be composed of a welcome pavilion and two office buildings to be completed in two phases respectively; an 8-storey 180 metre (m) long block and a 24-storey tower, connected at the basement and second storey levels. The first phase was expected to be completed by late February 2023, and the second phase by late February 2024. This timetable has been pushed back due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The first Jean Monnet building, opened in 1975, was demolished between 2016 and 2019, after exceeding its lifespan, and following the discovery of airborne traces of asbestos. The construction site combines some of the plot of the previous building with an adjacent former open air car park. Upon completion, the Jean Monnet 2 building will enable the European Commission to consolidate the majority of its Luxembourg-based staff on one site. Like its predecessor, the building's namesake is European Union (EU) founding father Jean Monnet.
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