The Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg funicular, one minute from train to tram

A one-minute ride doesn’t sound like much, but this funicular fixes one of Luxembourg City’s classic headaches, a capital split into levels by deep valleys. Down in Pfaffenthal there’s the railway station; up in Kirchberg, the tram and the EU quarter. Between them lie 40 metres of hillside, and the funicular covers them in 63 seconds. CFL, the national railway, bills it as the only funicular in the country.

What it’s for

The tourist office calls it a key part of the interchange linking Pfaffenthal with the Kirchberg plateau. It connects the rail network with the tram, buses and the cycle path, letting train passengers carry on to Kirchberg, Limpertsberg or the city centre without a detour. It opened in 2017; Visit Luxembourg dates it to December that year, alongside the tram on Avenue J. F. Kennedy.

The bottom station, Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg, lies beneath the Red Bridge. The upper one opens onto the Rout Bréck-Pafendall tram stop, one of the ten interchanges on line T1.

How much does the funicular cost?

Nothing. Since 1 March 2020 Luxembourg has offered free public transport to everyone, residents, cross-border workers and tourists alike, and CFL specifically includes the funicular. There’s no barrier and no validator. I go into the detail in Luxembourg free public transport.

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More a walk than a ride

For me the funicular makes most sense as part of a sequence. Here’s the one I’d do. Start in the upper town, drop into the valley on the Pfaffenthal lift, cross the valley floor on foot with the Vauban towers around you and the Red Bridge overhead, then ride up to Kirchberg. At the top, hop on the Luxembourg tram to Philharmonie / Mudam, or walk a few minutes to the museum. Three modes of transport, three levels of the city, and not a penny spent.

The tourist office points out the views over the valley on the way up. I’d stand on the valley side of the cabin, with the Red Bridge striding overhead and Pfaffenthal below.

Arriving by train

Here’s the practical bit most visitors miss. Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg is a CFL station, so anyone arriving on a train from the central station can get off right there and be in Kirchberg a minute later, without going through the centre. For Mudam, the Philharmonie or the Dräi Eechelen Museum, it’s the most direct route; both museums list it among their access options. The train is free in second class; first class costs €3 for two hours. If you’ve come from London via Brussels, you’ll pull into the central station first; from there, the onward hop to Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg is a free domestic journey, as long as you sit in second class.

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What’s a few steps from the top station

You come out on the edge of the plateau, right by the start of the Red Bridge. The Philharmonie counts the Rout Bréck-Pafendall bus stop among those within 200 metres of its door, and the Dräi Eechelen Museum gives it as its bus stop. If you’re walking to Dräi Eechelen Park, there’s also the Passerelle des Arts, opened in 2024. It’s a footbridge and cycle bridge whose mirror-finish steel face reflects the surrounding trees, and it brings you out right by Mudam.

Timetable

Here I have to be honest. Neither CFL nor the tourist office publishes a fixed funicular timetable on the pages I’ve read. As it runs in step with the trains and the tram, the sensible thing is to check your journey on mobiliteit.lu, the official planner, before heading out, especially early in the morning or late at night. If it’s ever out of service, the tram over the Red Bridge gets you to the same place, and that crossing has its own view, so you lose very little.

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My take

It’s a small piece of engineering with an outsized effect. It solves a serious climb with a free, fast ride with a view, and plugs it straight into the railway, which is exactly what I want from a city I’m exploring on foot. Being the only funicular in the country, it is also a small novelty in itself. If you only do one thing in Kirchberg, make it arriving this way.

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