Low-cost Paris-Amsterdam train launches with fares from €19
Dutch company GoVolta will travel at a maximum speed of 160km/h and stop at up to nine stations en route
GoVolta expects most passengers to purchase return tickets costing no more than €50.
GoVolta
A Dutch train company dubbed the ‘easyJet of European rail’ is launching a low-cost service between Paris and Amsterdam in mid-December, with tickets starting at a fraction of the cost of current high-speed rail fares.
The service, from GoVolta, will travel at a maximum speed of 160km/h and stop at up to nine stations en route.
The company has not yet published timetables confirming journey times, although its website forecasts “just over seven hours”.
The lowest fare will be €19 one-way. GoVolta expects most passengers to purchase return tickets costing no more than €50.
By contrast, prices for next-day travel with Eurostar between the two cities were listed at €184 one-way in mid-May. These non-stop services travel at 300km/h, with a journey time of three and a half hours from Paris Gare du Nord to Amsterdam Centraal.
Luggage on the GoVolta service is restricted to one large suitcase measuring a maximum of 50cm x 40cm x 25cm, along with one smaller bag. Larger suitcases may be carried, but must be declared when booking and will incur an additional charge.
The trains will offer two classes, economy and comfort. The latter features slightly larger seats arranged in a 2-1 configuration. All passengers will have allocated seating. Economy passengers will also be able to book the seat next to them at a reduced rate to provide extra space.
Refurbished carriages
There is no onboard Wi-Fi or charging points for devices – the carriages are refurbished units from the 1980s, purchased from the Belgian state railway SNCB.
The trains will comprise 11 carriages with a total capacity of 840 passengers. They are expected to include a buffet car, although initial GoVolta services from Amsterdam to Berlin and Hamburg, which launched in March, did not offer one.
“We want you to take the train to Hamburg, Berlin or Paris from Amsterdam in a way that feels just as natural as flying does,” said Hessel Winkelman, one of the co-founders of GoVolta.
“If we get that right, in terms of price, convenience and reliability, many more people will make the switch.”
He added: “After the Netherlands, we want to further expand our network in Europe, so that GoVolta becomes the low-cost airline equivalent for international train travel in Europe.”
The company could be among the first to benefit from new proposals from the European Commission, which wants rail operators to make details of all train services and fares available in a format accessible to any online platform, allowing tickets to be compared more easily.
Where companies control more than 50% of rail passenger, as is the case in most EU countries with state-owned railway operators, the proposals would require operators’ booking platforms to display services run by competitors as well.
A further proposal would allow single tickets to be issued for journeys involving several different train operators, while also giving passengers greater protection and compensation in the event of delays.
The proposals received little public reaction from national rail operators.
SNCF did not acknowledge them on its website, while requests from The Connexion for a response went unanswered.
However, they are likely to prove popular with the public. The European Commission estimates that booking train tickets online currently takes 60% longer than booking a flight, and says its proposals will make reserving a train journey at least as straightforward as booking air travel.
It also estimates that rail passenger numbers will increase by 5%.
The European Parliament must approve the measures before member states are required to implement them.
