German budget transport group Flix aims to expand its bright green train service into the Netherlands, chief executive André Schwämmlein has told the AD in an interview.

Flix has recently raised €2.4 billion from investors and has ordered 65 new long-distance trains from Spanish firm Talgo. “Our new trains will be approved for use in many European countries, including the Netherlands,” Schwämmlein said.

Schwämmlein promises cut-price tickets, referring to the current Flix train and bus route between Amsterdam and Berlin, which costs €67. “We are considerably cheaper than other providers,” he told the paper.

Currently, FlixTrain offers a very limited service from Dutch border towns such as Arnhem and Venlo, but its buses have been providing city-to-city services across Europe since 2014.

It would be good if travellers had an alternative to national train companies like NS, Schwämmlein said.

“At the moment, European countries are competing with each other, but in fact it should be European companies competing with each other,” he said. “If that happens, people will be able to move around the heart of Europe much more quickly.”

In 2023, FlixTrain said it hoped to gain space on the Dutch network at the end of 2024 with trains from Germany to Rotterdam via Arnhem, Amsterdam and The Hague, but nothing came of the plan.

In July, the European Commission said it is referring the Netherlands to the European Court of Justice for failing to ensure proper competition on the main railway network.

“Competition in the rail market is essential to provide passengers with more attractive and innovative services at lower cost, while keeping public service tasks,” the commission said in a statement.

Brussels objects to the Dutch government’s decision to award the rail passenger transport concession for 2025 to 2033 directly to state-owned operator NS, without a competitive tender. A majority of MPs supported the decision when it was taken two years ago.