Within a few weeks, it will be possible for passengers to travel from the university in Belval to the railway station or lycée on a self-driving shuttle bus, the national railway company CFL has said.

The autonomous bus will travel at 25 km/h through the neighbourhood, serving four stops. It will start at the university in Avenue des Hauts Fourneaux. From there, it will continue to Belval-Université station and then to the Lycée Bel-Val, with the final stop at the nursing home on Rue Waassertrap, serving a distance of 2.3km.

This is what the autonomous bus route will look like. © Photo credit: CFL

The CFL has not yet announced when exactly the first passengers will be able to travel on board the shuttle. However, it should be “in the course of the first half of 2025”, as a spokesperson for the railway company told the Luxemburger Wort.

The Ohmio self-driving bus from New Zealand manufacturer HMI Technologies has eight seats and is air-conditioned. According to the manufacturer, the shuttles are already in use around the world, including at several airports such as Amsterdam, Brussels and New York.

The undergoing a trial run at Esch-Belval © Luc Ewen

In Belval, the bus will drive autonomously but Luxembourg laws dictate that a driver must always be on board to be able to intervene in the event of an incident. The same applies to the Uelzecht Mobil, which has been travelling autonomously in Esch-sur-Alzette for several years.

Originally, there was talk of the scheme beginning in September 2023. However, the launch date was repeatedly postponed. Initially, test drives were carried out on a private CFL site near Bettembourg, but for almost a year now, tests have been carried out under real everyday conditions in Belval. To date, the buses have always travelled without passengers.

Also read:Self-driving cars to be tested on Luxembourg roads

“These tests are still ongoing, among other things to make software adjustments to the shuttle. The purpose of these adjustments is to react better to the misbehaviour of other road users, for example when cars park incorrectly or drive too fast, for example at junctions with priority rules,” explained the CFL spokesperson.

(This article was first published by the Luxemburger Wort. Translation and editing by Tracy Heindrichs)