Locomore, an ambitious but under-funded discount competitor for Germany’s giant Deutsche Bahn has gotten a new lease in life with new operators planning to revive the service that failed in May after five months.
The rail operator, which started ended service in May after five months of running a Stuttgart-Frankfurt-Hannover-Berlin service, will be taken over by Flixbus, Germany’s largest bus operator, partnered with Czech rail operator Leo Express.
The two companies, which also partner service in the Czech Republic, hope to make money at low prices in Germany, with ticket operations by Flixbus and Leo operating the train. Initial start-up tickets will be sold for €9.90, with shorter distances going for €5. In both cases, that will not be the regular fare, but the regular fare will still be significantly under DB’s rates.
Locomore’s train is a 70’s era train, refurbished for the service, but playing on its image as a retro design. They’ll have a tough job against DB, however. Despite a 1994 law opening Germany’s tracks to other operators, DB has 99% of the business.
