Trains Liège Luxembourg

[mjr]

Has anyone used these trains recently? What's the bike provision like?

Pictures online suggest it may be a Luxembourg locomotive pulling old Belgian coaches with no bike spaces, but most pictures seem years old. Thanks for any newer info!

(I've also emailed CFL but comments online suggest the reply may be vague and unhelpful. We'll see...)

 

[robjh]

I took my bike on a train in Luxembourg a few years ago, on the main north-south line in the country, and had no problems. It was a locomotive + carriages and I don't recall where exactly I put the bike but I know that it was easy. Of course I don't know if cross-border services will be the same but it should show that CFL as such are quite bike-friendly, as least on their own lines.

Stop press : just found this on the website (you may have seen it too):

which summarised seems to say bikes are OK on CFL services, but they're hedging their bets about Belgium.

 

[mjr]

Thanks. Yes, that's what made me email CFL too. I can't find anywhere what stock is currently operating the Liege service. If it's modern CFL or modern SNCB, I suspect it'll be fine, but the pictures look like a mix of older stuff.

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

I asked a Luxembourgeois cycling friend and he reports: "I took two bikes on that train last year, it was fine. They have space for bikes on those trains now. See https://www.lvi.lu/pdf/2017/lvi-info-106.pdf page 25"

 

[alicat]

I went on that journey a couple of times a few years ago. No problems at all. I can't imagine the provision of bike spaces has got worse.

 

[alicat]

If you go on a Belgian train you may need a ticket for your bike.

https://www.belgiantrain.be/en/tickets-and-railcards/bike-ticket

 

[mjr]

I went on that journey a couple of times a few years ago. No problems at all. I can't imagine the provision of bike spaces has got worse.

You might think not but pictures and comments suggest those trains went from double-deck coaches with an entire floor of wheeled user space accessed through low-level doors (M6 I think) to single-deck coaches with no wheeled space (I10), at least not when they were first introduced to the route.

I asked a Luxembourgeois cycling friend and he reports: "I took two bikes on that train last year, it was fine. They have space for bikes on those trains now. See https://www.lvi.lu/pdf/2017/lvi-info-106.pdf page 25"

Thanks so much for that! Now I know to look at the windows rather than the more usual on/by doors, I spotted the markings about 55s in to

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e9XNs9SHo2g


If only stuff like this was on the CFL or tourism websites... but then the UK isn't very good at documenting this either so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

 

[mjr]

If you go on a Belgian train you may need a ticket for your bike.

https://www.belgiantrain.be/en/tickets-and-railcards/bike-ticket

"It is not permitted to get your bike on or off the train in the following train stations: Brussels-Central, Brussels-Congres, Brussels-Chapelle, Bastogne-Nord, Bastogne-Sud."

The last two haven't seen a passenger train in 25 years, so it would be a good trick! Line 163 is now a RaVel AFAICT, part paved, part gravel.

Given that Luxembourg doesn't have train tickets for bikes, is a regular Belgian bike ticket all that's required, not one of their international bike tickets?

 

[Ivo]

I use the Liège - Luxemburg train on a regular basis, mostly from Liège. Indeed, there's hardly ever a formal place for your bike. But I was always permitted to store my bike at the balcony of the first or last coach.
Beware if you want to board on one of the small stations in the Ardennes in the dark, it's possible that the guard doesn't see you so keep your lights switched on until you're safely in the train.

 

[alicat]

"It is not permitted to get your bike on or off the train in the following train stations: Brussels-Central, Brussels-Congres, Brussels-Chapelle, Bastogne-Nord, Bastogne-Sud."

...

Given that Luxembourg doesn't have train tickets for bikes, is a regular Belgian bike ticket all that's required, not one of their international bike tickets?

I think the trains from Belgium to Luxembourg are provided by Belgian Railways (SNCB) not CFL. I don't honestly think you will have a problem; however I can't offer any guarantees of what trains run on what lines. Much of Europe is fairly bike-friendly. If you can't by any chance go direct from Liege to Luxembourg you could go via Trier in Germany. German local trains definitely have lots of room for bikes.

I

 

[mjr]

I use the Liège - Luxemburg train on a regular basis, mostly from Liège. Indeed, there's hardly ever a formal place for your bike. But I was always permitted to store my bike at the balcony of the first or last coach.

So you've not seen the coaches with the symbol on the windows from the LVI magazine? There's going to be a group of us trying to board at an intermediate station to go towards Liège, so I donˋt feel we can rely on end vestibules. If we donˋt fit on one train, thatˋs OK, but if we spread across more than two, things may become complicated.

 

[mjr]

I think the trains from Belgium to Luxembourg are provided by Belgian Railways (SNCB) not CFL. I don't honestly think you will have a problem; however I can't offer any guarantees of what trains run on what lines. Much of Europe is fairly bike-friendly. If you can't by any chance go direct from Liege to Luxembourg you could go via Trier in Germany. German local trains definitely have lots of room for bikes.

It seems to be SNCB coaches attached to a CFL locomotive, maybe because the line is 25kV not Belgian 3kV oif I read the maps correctly. Iˋve taken bikes on SNCB before but not those coaches. Iˋll take a look at how easily we can get to a station on a line towards Germany - just in case. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Ivo]

So you've not seen the coaches with the symbol on the windows from the LVI magazine? There's going to be a group of us trying to board at an intermediate station to go towards Liège, so I donˋt feel we can rely on end vestibules. If we donˋt fit on one train, thatˋs OK, but if we spread across more than two, things may become complicated.

Only very ocasionally. Outside of the holiday season there's hardly a soul on this train.

 

[mjr]

Only very ocasionally. Outside of the holiday season there's hardly a soul on this train.

Heh. We're looking at July...

 

[mjr]

I got a half-useful answer out of CFL at the second attempt:

"Depending on trains usually max 6 bikes.
You need an international ticket.

During summer are works on the line Luxemburg-Liege.
We don't have details yet, but there is probably partly running a bus.
Buses don't take bikes.

May double check train times a few weeks before your' travelling to make sure that you train is not replaced by a bus."

So at best, our group should have to split between two trains, two hours apart. Oh well, as long as we know. Otherwise, riding another 35 miles via Line 163 to Libramont to use SNCB is looking attractive to me.