FlixTrain will expand its railway services in Sweden, France and Germany, starting 2020. In Sweden, the trains will run on Stockholm – Malmö and Stockholm – Gothenburg routes from the first half of 2020 onwards.
In France, the operator will evaluate the possibilities to enter the market as the. The French market will be liberalized from 2021 and next year an official application is expected to be issued. “This liberalization is a unique chance for us to create an even better mobility offer to French customers,” Yvan Lefranc-Morin, Managing Director of FlixBus France, said.
This Spring, FlixTrain revealed its preliminary plans for the French train market. The national regulator, ARAFER, asked parties interested in entering the soon-to-be liberalized train market to share their plans 18 months before the start of operations. Upon request ARAFER is now running economic-balance tests for selected routes.
FlixTrain will also expand its operation area in 2020, when will launch a transport service between Stuttgart and Hamburg. In addition, from December, the company will serve seven new cities such as Aachen, Leipzig, Halle (Saale) and Erfurt which are added to Berlin – Cologne or the Berlin – Stuttgart route.
In 2018, FlixTrain started transport services between Berlin and Stuttgart (via Frankfurt) and Hamburg and Cologne, and in 2019, Berlin – Cologne route was added.
To provide extended transport services, the operator will deploy fully refurbishing coaches and brand-new trains. Ongoing negotiations are taking place with rolling stock manufacturers which should provide trains powered by 100% renewable energy, according to operator’s requests.
In Germany, the company is currently operating refurbished cars procured from Deutsche Bahn.
After a very successful first one and a half year in Germany, FlixMobility will launch its FlixTrain brand abroad next year.
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