THE HAGUE, Netherlands, June 13 – Dutch rail transporter Qbuzz has asked national competition authorities for permission to run rail services between Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin from 2027, adding another competitor on the lucrative routes.
Based in Amersfoort in central Netherlands, Qbuzz submitted plans to the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) for three railway connections, based on European “open access” rules, it said.
“Qbuzz wants to show its ambition and has put in a request for three rail connections,” the company said in a statement.
“This concerns Amsterdam to Eindhoven, Amsterdam to Berlin and Amsterdam to Paris, which Qbuzz would like to operate starting January 2027,” it said on Monday.
Qbuzz, a subsidiary of Italy’s state-owned railway holding, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, said it aimed to run seven daily trains between the Dutch, French and German capitals.
Several other Dutch rail operators have already applied for similar permission from the ACM, including Arriva, the Dutch arm of German-based DB Regio.
Arriva filed similar plans before the competition watchdog on Thursday to operate a service between the northern Dutch Groningen province and Paris, with in-between stops including at Amsterdam, Schiphol airport, Antwerp and Brussels.
Should the plans be approved, the new operators would be in head-to-head competition with existing operators such as French majority-owned Eurostar and Thalys, and Dutch national rail operator NS.
