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A new rail service dubbed the ‘EasyJet of trains’ is launching next year, and will connect two popular cities for just £8.75 (€10).
Low-cost operator GoVolta plans to connect Amsterdam and Berlin by March 2026, with more routes on the continent to follow.
The Dutch company has pledged to offer the first 100 tickets on every service to customers priced under £9, rivalling the current options of rail travel across Europe.
Tickets from Amsterdam to Berlin with other rail operators currently range between £31 (€37.90) and £213 (€257), depending on ticket type and class, so GoVolta are offering significant savings.
To begin, travellers can expect services between the two cities three times a week, with morning departures and later afternoon arrivals.
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However, unlike most of Europe’s popular services, GoVolta’s trains will not be high-speed.
The Amsterdam-Berlin service is expected to take eight hours, rather than the six-hour journey offered by the German rail operator, Deutsche Bahn.
While that means journey times will be longer – it also means the service will be much cheaper.
This is because all of GoVolta’s services are set to be budget-friendly.
The founders of GoVolta, Hessel Winkelman and Maarten Bastian have described the company as the ‘EasyJet of the rails’.
The first train to Berlin will depart on 19 March 2026, stopping in Amersfoort, Deventer, Hengelo, Bad Bentheim, Osnabrück, and Hannover.
The following day, trains to Hamburg will commence. By Summer 2026, both routes will be updated to daily services.
In addition to this, GoVolta plans to expand its services – introducing a further daily connection between Amsterdam and Paris in December 2026.
GoVolta will join other low-cost operators in Europe such as Ougio, a French subsidiary of the French SNCF and Avlo, operated by Spanish rail company Renfe.
Ryanair axes 24 routes to and from Germany
One thing that could work in GoVolta’s favour is the fact that budget airline Ryanair recently gutted German destinations from its Winter scheduling — cutting nearly 800,000 seats in total.
Major tourist hotspots including Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne were all affected by the move. Meanwhile, Ryanair also confirmed that it would not be revisiting resuming operations in Dortmund, Dresden, and Leipzig.
In a statement released back in October, the airline accused the German government of jeopardising ‘connectivity, jobs, and tourism’ in the region by failing to address high aviation taxes and rising operational costs.
Given these ongoing tensions, new budget rail line operators could take advantage of the reduction in flights and offer customers an alternative travel option.
While travelling by train is typically slower and more expensive than flying – these budget-friendly rail alternatives are directly competing with low-cost airlines.
Train operator Ouigo, for example, launched a low-cost service between Paris and Brussels in December 2023.
The thrice-daily service runs between Paris Gare du Nord and Bruxelles Midi, with tickets ranging between £8 and £49.
The same journey on the Eurostar can cost up to £100. However, while the Eurostar service takes just one hour and 27 minutes, the Ougio service takes three hours.
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