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‘EasyJet of the rails’ GoVolta delays debut to Berlin for 2025, Paris for 2026

Posted by Timothy on

In 2023, GoVolta announced it would start operating supercheap trains from the Netherlands and from Belgium to Germany, France, Switzerland and Denmark from May 2024. Of course, this didn’t happen. GoVolta is now looking towards 2025 for Berlin and 2026 for Paris. 

Amongst other Dutch media, Treinreiziger.nl says GoVolta entrepreneurs Hessel Winkelman and Maarten Bastian now aim at starting a service to Berlin from April 2025. Afterwards, GoVolta wants trains to Copenhagen from June 2025 and Basel from July or August 2025. Paris will have to wait until 2026. 

GoVolta, which still hasn’t really put content on its website, is positioning itself as a very low-budget train company, using old rolling stock and classic railway lines. 

While Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) and Deutsche Bahn (DB) travel from Amsterdam to Berlin in some 6 hours, GoVolta journeys would be 8 hours. 

GoVolta is the successor of GreenCityTrip and is adamant it will offer train tickets for under 10 euros. 

Permits and money

According to Treinreizeiger and De Volksrant, an argument with an unnamed (sub)contractor is the cause of the delay. GoVolta relied on this company to actually run the trains and providing al necessary permits and paperwork. 

But progress seems too slow, so Hessel Winkelman and Maarten Bastian are now doing it themselves. As the subcontractor also brought money, the two now need to find 20 million euros. They’re talking to three parties to provide this sum. 

“Because we’re now taking over the implementation ourselves, our costs will decrease”, Winkelman told De Volkskrant. “This allows us to offer even more cheap tickets. Initially, out of the 800 seats per train, we could only offer 55 tickets for less than 10 euros. Now, it will be 110 tickets per train”.

So Winkelman and Bastian are looking into a flight pricing strategy, where prices are dynamic. The intention is to start offering train tickets in October 2024. 

Engineering works and rolling stock

There are two other issues: many engineering works en route to Berlin and to Basel Badischer Bahnhof (which is in Switzerland but operates as a German station) and the eternal issue of rolling stock.

The infamous subcontractor was also contracted to buy rolling stock. But now the two Dutch entrepreneurs must find other coaches. 

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