ADVERTISEMENTFlixTrain, one of Germany’s largest train operators, has announced it will soon offer significantly more regional connections.
FlixTrain is one of Deutsche Bahn’s few competitors in the long-distance rail sphere in the country. It will work together with regional train operators, including Deutsche Bahn, to connect its routes to more regional destinations, opening up hundreds of new connections across Germany.
Passengers will be able to use one ticket across both a long-distance journey with FlixTrain, before transferring onto another train operated by a regional transport partner to reach their final destination.
“Around 200 additional cities can be reached with the combined tickets, which consist of a FlixTrain and a regional train journey,” a spokesperson for the company said.
Currently FlixTrain routes are only long distance, between major hubs such as Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin, Frankfurt and Stuttgart, but smaller cities including Kiel, Lübeck and Kaiserslautern will now be easier to reach.
FlixTrain is part of the wider Flix mobility platform, which is best known for its FlixBuses, which offer long-distance journeys around Europe.
The company is currently the market leader in this sector in Germany as well as in numerous surrounding countries.
It was praised last year for the launch of its first long-distance electric coach service, which promises an even greener future for bus travel.
Now, it’s hoping to provide real competition for Deutsche Bahn within the rail industry. Currently, that company effectively operates as a state monopoly within Germany.
Flix has seen potential for change and made the decision to cooperate with regional train operations in the German Tariff Association (DTV).
“The cooperation with the DTV is an important step towards connecting more and more cities throughout Germany with our offer - even outside the metropolitan regions,” Flix’s spokesperson says.
For now, though, Flix will not operate any of the regional trains itself, but that could change as it expands its ambitions further.