Dubbed the ‘easyJet of the railways,’ Dutch startup GoVolta undertook its inaugural journey this week.
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The train operator is banking on cheap fares to tempt passengers; tickets for the newly launched routes from Amsterdam to Hamburg and Berlin start at just €19.
Passengers can also book city break packages via GoVolta, which include train tickets and hotels.
The company plans to extend its service with an Amsterdam-Paris line starting in December 2026.
GoVolta promises cheap tickets and direct routes
GoVolta has launched two international routes: Amsterdam–Berlin and Amsterdam–Hamburg, both operating three times per week. From 1 July 2026, the Berlin service will run daily.
The Amsterdam–Berlin route calls at Amersfoort, Deventer, Hengelo, Bad Bentheim, Osnabrück and Hannover. The Hamburg route runs via Amersfoort, Deventer, Hengelo and Bremen.
GoVolta is hoping to shake up Europe’s international rail market with three promises: affordable prices, a guaranteed seat with every ticket, and direct connections.
“If you ask people about international trains, you always hear the same story,” says Hessel Winkelman, co-founder of GoVolta. “You spend ages searching, you pay a premium, and then it's questionable whether you even have a seat. We want to change that.”
Currently, standard tickets from Amsterdam to Hamburg in March on Deutsche Bahn’s ICE trains cost between €34 and €59, with anywhere from one to four changes required. Seat reservation costs an additional €5.70.
GoVolta is offering average ticket prices of €30 one way and fares starting from €19.
However, the start-up’s low prices do come with a trade-off: its trains can only reach a top speed of 160 km/h, significantly lower than ICE and Eurostar’s potential 300 km/h.
This means journey times will often be slower, by around an hour between Amsterdam and Berlin, while the Paris trip could take twice as long as the Eurostar.
‘Making travelling to Europe by train as easy and affordable as flying’
GoVolta’s stated aim is to make “travelling to Europe by train as easy and affordable as flying”.
"The more affordable and attractive connections there are, the easier it becomes to switch from car and plane to rail. That is essential for the climate and for European connectivity,” Jeroen Wesdorp, Programme Manager International Rail at ProRail, said in a press release.
But it isn’t the first budget train operator to champion sustainable travel and keep Europe’s budget airlines on their toes.
It follows in the footsteps of Dutch-Belgian startup European Sleeper, which began offering affordable night trains in 2023. The company is expanding in June 2026 with new routes from Brussels and Amsterdam to Milan via Switzerland.
Ouigo in France, Avlo in Spain and Lumo in the UK are also challenging the monopoly of national train operators and low-cost airlines, bringing low-cost high-speed options to train passengers.
What will it be like on board GoVolta trains?
GoVolta’s trains have around 820 seats across 11 carriages. A lounge car serves hot and cold drinks, snacks and light meals.
Passengers can choose between two ticket classes: economy and comfort, the latter of which promises a quieter environment and more spacious seating.
Economy passengers can also upgrade their ticket to reserve the seat opposite at a reduced rate to provide them with more space.
Tickets include two pieces of hand luggage as standard, while larger or additional luggage can be booked separately.