Germany's Flix transport company said Friday it intends to double rail services in the country over the next two years, putting more pressure on beleaguered public operator Deutsche Bahn.
Specialising in bus travel, Flix has been expanding its low-cost rail offering in Germany since 2018.
Publicly-owned Deutsche Bahn has meanwhile been unable to restore punctuality on long-distance services and is struggling under debt and the consequences of years of underinvestment.
"We are going to tap into this tremendous market potential in Germany and firmly establish ourselves as the second major operator," said a spokesman for the Munich-based group, confirming a report in Spiegel magazine.
By 2027, FlixTrain plans to double the number of journeys between Berlin and Leipzig, and between Hamburg and Cologne, and to increase services between the capital and Hamburg by one third, with up to 10 trips per day in each direction.
