Last Saturday, Ludwigsburg's cityscape was dominated by miles of traffic jams from all directions, overcrowded parking garages early in the morning and blocked access roads such as at the Sternkreuzung intersection. Once again, there was no sign of the hoped-for traffic turnaround. This is precisely where LUCIE, the Ludwigsburg City Express, comes in: The project aims to relieve the city's parking garages, traffic situation and parking guidance systems in the future. Scenes like last Saturday could therefore soon be a thing of the past.
With LUCIE, the light rail network around the Ludwigsburg hub is to be expanded so that the towns and municipalities of Markgröningen, Möglingen, Schwieberdingen, Pattonville and Remseck-Aldingen are reliably connected to the city center. The light rail line will use both existing routes and planned new sections and is scheduled to go into operation in 2031. As an alternative solution to highly frequented road traffic, LUCIE aims to make public transport a real and attractive option for all citizens around Ludwigsburg in the near future. Forecasts predict that in the first expansion stage of the light rail network, a total of around 7,000 passengers could be transported daily with LUCIE. This would shift around 4,800 to 5,000 car journeys from road to rail (at 1.46 people per car).
"The images from the weekend clearly show us that we have to act now," emphasizes Michael Ilk, head of the light rail system. "With LUCIE, we are creating a sustainable, climate-friendly infrastructure - for us and future generations." Now is the time to set the course for the future so that LUCIE can start on time.
