EU to back new cross-border pilots by European Sleeper, SJ, Eurostar, among others
The European Commission will support 10 pilot project for new cross-border services and the improvement of existing ones, it announced on Tuesday. Among the proposals selected are those by night train startup European Sleeper, the...Read more
Four French entrepreneurs want to operate trains differently
AnalysisLaunching your own trains in France is not easy, yet four entrepreneurs are trying to put private trains on the rails where the SNCF has abandoned services. They all have a different business model and...Read more
France seems to welcome competition on the rails, yet new services keep getting postponed
AnalysisOnly one competitor to the state-owned railways SNCF currently runs trains on the French network. This is Italy’s Trenitalia, which has been running on the Paris-Lyon-Milan axis since 2020. Although there are quite some plans...Read moreFlixTrain offers new destinations in Germany and first train to Switzerland
FlixTrain announced an expansion of its network in Germany on Wednesday, which for the first time has a cross-border connection to Switzerland. It includes three new lines with 12 new destinations: Stuttgart – Hamburg, Berlin...Read moreFlixTrain: a change of strategy?
AnalysisThings are moving fast for the privately owned Munich-based firm FlixMobility, which has been running FlixTrains since 2017. The acquisition of the American bus icon Greyhound in 2021 has shown a change in strategy for...Read more
‘Integrated companies like DB pose more problems than solutions’
The new German government recently announced that the split of Deutsche Bahn into two different entities would not take place. There will be an attempt to make the company’s internal structures more ‘efficient and transparent’....Read more
New services for FlixTrain in Germany
With its new winter timetable, FlixTrain is adding 10 new stops to its network from 12 December and almost 20 more destinations will be added to the network next spring. This means that by summer...Read more‘Flight tax more important for shift to rail than lower track access charges’
“We have to reduce track access charges, and especially Germany has a problem with this”, said Oldag Caspar of Germanwatch during a panel discussion at the arrival of the Connecting Europe Express in Berlin. But,...Read more
SNCF announces its new ‘Ouigo vitesse classique’ service
SNCF announced the expansion of the Ouigo brand, this time in the form of renovated classic trains, on the French domestic network.Read more
FlixTrain criticises Deutschlandtakt: ‘nobody wants a twenty-minute train’
According to FlixTrain director André Schwämmlein, it is completely unnecessary to run a train every twenty minutes on long-distance routes, as the German government and DB advocate. The supply should be densified at the times...Read moreFlixTrain increases train capacity in Germany
Private operator FlixTrain has increased the number of seats between 20 and 50 percent on all routes in Germany. From now on, they also guarantee a seat for every traveler – at no extra charge....Read more
The unique formula of operator Railcoop
Railcoop, France’s first cooperative society of collective interest dedicated to the railways, aims to give new meaning to rail mobility. Everyone, from citizens to local authorities, can be a part of it. The mission: to...Read moreFlixtrain doubles routes in Germany and launches first night train
FlixTrain is doubling the number of routes in its network. For the first time, it includes the route Hamburg – Berlin and Munich – Frankfurt. The private operator is also launching its first night line...Read more