The Tram and Bus Museum, Luxembourg City's transport story

If you arrive in Luxembourg on the tram from Findel, you might assume trams are a new idea here. They aren’t. For the best part of a century, horse-drawn and then electric trams ran through the capital, until buses took over in 1964. The Tram and Bus Museum, known locally as the Tramsmusée, keeps what survived in a shed in Hollerich. It’s free, charming and open for very few hours a week.

A century of trams, in three dates

The City of Luxembourg sums it up neatly. From 1875 to 1908 the capital had a horse-drawn tram network of about 3 km. In August 1908 an electric network opened and replaced the old infrastructure entirely. On 5 September 1964 the electric trams gave way to buses.

That’s when the collection began. In the early 1960s, with the end of the trams in sight, the city transport department started holding on to vehicles. For the millennium celebrations in 1963 and the final electric run in 1964, its workshops built remarkably accurate models of the trams at one-eighth scale, and more models of trams and buses followed. The museum opened to the public in Hollerich in 1991.

What’s inside

According to the City, you’ll find two working electric trams, a full-size replica of a horse-drawn tram, vintage buses and a Ford wagon once used to maintain the overhead lines. Around them are conductors’ uniforms, tickets, ticket punches, maps and plans, plus several thousand documents and photos charting how the city has moved since 1875. The City’s page also lists technical details of buses such as a 1957 Büssing and a 1959 AEC.

I like it because nothing hides behind glass. The museum’s guides can show you an engine running up close and how a tram actually travels along its tracks, and there are plenty of technical drawings for anyone who wants the nuts and bolts. It’s small, and you can tell it sits right next to the city’s working bus depot.

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When can you actually get in?

This is the catch. Opening is limited to Thursday afternoons, 13:30 to 17:30, plus weekends and bank holidays, 10:00 to 18:00. On 1 November it stays shut, and guided tours are by appointment over the phone. Admission is free. visitluxembourg warns that hours can change, so I’d check before setting off, especially on a short city break where a wasted trip hurts.

Getting to Hollerich

The museum is at 63 rue de Bouillon, beside the offices of the city’s bus department in Hollerich. The City lists bus lines 10, 22 and 24 to the P+R Bouillon Quai 1 stop, and the ride costs nothing thanks to free public transport in Luxembourg. No ticket machines, no contactless, no fuss.

I’d make a day of it. Museum in the morning, then the modern Luxembourg tram in the afternoon, which covers 16 km and 24 stops between Stadion and the airport and first crossed the Red Bridge in 2018. With children, I’d add it to the list of ideas in Luxembourg with kids, and if you’re hungry for more, my guide to museums in Luxembourg ranks the rest of the capital.

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