Dutch railway company GoVolta has submitted applications for three new international train services from January 2027. The new rail operator has submitted applications to the Autoriteit Consument & Markt (ACM), the authority for consumer and market in the Netherlands for trains to Bruges in Belgium and Hamburg and Frankfurt in Germany.

GoVolta, which falls under Flywise Travel and is an initiative of entrepreneurs Hessel Winkelman and Maarten Bastian, wants to establish two new train services between Amsterdam Central and Frankfurt in both directions. Two new train services per day should also be introduced to Hamburg and Bruges from and to Amsterdam Central.

The train to Frankfurt should run in addition to the previously registered train to Munich (via Frankfurt) from GoVolta, which should run once a day. The train to Hamburg will be in addition to the previously registered train to Copenhagen (via Hamburg), which will also run once a day, and the train to Bruges will be in addition to the previously registered train to Paris (via Bruges), which will run once a day. 

This means that three GoVolta trains will run between Amsterdam and Bruges, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, and Amsterdam and Hamburg, according to the application.

Not for domestic travel in the Netherlands

In the application, GoVolta indicates that passengers will not be able to travel within the Netherlands with the new trains, the same as the ‘Benelux‘ EuroCity Direct is excluding domestic travel within Belgium. 

GoVolta also writes that the start date is January 2027, but that this can also be done earlier, but not before April 2026.

Amsterdam – Bruges – Paris

The ACM document shows the Amsterdam – Bruges – Paris train would also call at Schiphol Airport, Leiden Central, The Hague Dutch Rail (Hollands Spoor), Rotterdam Central, Lage Zwaluwe, Antwerp-Central, Ghent-Saint-Peter’s, Bruges, Kortrijk and Paris. 

Regular applications

Hessel Winkelman reports to Treinreiziger.nl that GoVolta is already making the applications “now, so that we can expand later”. 

The Netherlands is one of the few countries where a new train service must first be publicly registered in advance. According to Winkelman, GoVolta asks “what is relevant for us to operate”. 

“The actual implementation depends on obtaining suitable services and equipment,” says Winkelman, who indicates that the new carrier will receive regular registrations.

Basel and Berlin

GoVolta also wants to run trains to Basel and Berlin. Winkelman recently reported that the train to Berlin can start in September 2025. According to him, ticket sales for this train will start at the beginning of the new year. He expects the start of the trains to Copenhagen and Basel soon after that of the train to Berlin.

GoVolta, which currently does not have any trains running, wants to introduce low-budget train services. Tickets for the train to Berlin, for example, should be available from 10 euros. 

The GoVolta website is still empty.  So let’s wait and see.

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