Connection to the Mouscron train station

Preliminary consultation - Tramway Roubaix-Tourcoing

Vote for this proposal (on the MEL website)

Extend the tramway to Mouscron station

We propose to extend the tramway line in Belgium to Mouscron station and, in the long term, to continue to Herseaux and return to Wattrelos to also connect to Roubaix.

Showing what Europe means in everyday life

Already in their 2014 strategy, the Eurometropolis (Lille, Kortrijk and Tournai) defined “mobility” and an integrated transport system as a key objective. The 3rd the ambition even calls for "strengthening the intermodality and creating a network of interchanges “on the Lille-Kortrijk axis: reinforcement of intermediate hubs (Mouscron, Tourcoing, Roubaix) by improving links between Mouscron station and the regional business areas, and the development of park-and-ride facilities and bicycle parks around the stations”. When the new tram lines become operational in 2040, it will be 25 years that these objectives have been defined and a European metropole should think and extend hands beyond borders when it comes to potentials of creating cross-border links.

Since European financing generally requires participants from two countries, such an extension could also benefit from additional funding from European level on both sides of the border. The Métropole could even build on the Interreg’s Connect2CE’s results and see how other countries grow their cross-border public transportation systems.

One only has to look at another Eurometropole - Strasbourg - to see the positive effects of cross border public transportation. Since 2017, Strasbourg and Kehl in Germany are connected by tram and already in 2018 the tram was deemed a success by the public and media transporting 5500 travelers per day and 7000 travelers on weekends. In 2022, Tourcoing is not Strasbourg and Mouscron is not Kehl, but just imagine a similar vibrant cross-border region in the heart of the Métropole of Lille by 2040 crossing the border from the “eurometroplis” to the “Transfrontaliere” stations.

Creating economic opportunities while reducing traffic and pollution

Mouscron is the most densely populated area in the west of Wallonia and studies by the INSEE in 2014 and the MEL in 2016 already registered significant daily travel from Halluin, Tourcoing and Wattrelos into Belgium (the other direction was not measured). A tram connecting both the Tourcoing and Mouscron train stations with a more regular service and longer service hours than the 45 mins currently required by TER would provide an opportunity for citizens in the communes around Tourcoing and in Belgium to use the tram as daily commute to work rather than cars. The same for cultural events - whether a concert at Zenith, a match at stade Mauroy or students wanting to spend a saturday evening in Lille - going by car into the Metropole is currently the only way even if it means being stuck in traffic jams while doing so. With a tram serving the Mouscron and Tourcoing train stations as well as accessing the Metro in Roubaix Euroteleport, the metropole and its cultural scene become much more accessible for the population across the border.

Providing alternatives to car travel in the Metropole is essential towards meeting our 2035 and 2050 ambitions with regards to climate change. And while the Metropole stops at the border, the citizens of the region move freely and a public transport system that takes this into account will make strides towards reducing car travel, congestion and pollution and thereby increasing the quality of living in the Lille Metropole and Eurometropolis region.

Apporter des alternatives à la voiture dans la Métropole est essentiel pour répondre à nos ambitions en matière de mitigation du changement climatique. Alors que la Métropole s'arrête à la frontière, les citoyens de la région se déplacent librement. Un système de transport public qui en tient compte de cette réalité permettra de réduire les déplacements en voiture, la congestion et la pollution et donc d'augmenter la qualité dans la métropole et la Eurométropolis.

(Graphic made with maps provided by the MEL)