Deutsche Bahn AG is completely giving up its IC long-distance buses at the end of the year. Numerous lines had already been discontinued earlier. As an alternative, there are now attractive and fast train connections, the state-owned company announced on request and confirmed the exit.
At the beginning of the week, competitor Blablabus had already announced that it would temporarily stop all connections due to Corona from October 26, refund ticket prices and postpone the planned expansion.
For a long time, DB AG had expensively expanded the long-distance bus business. Four years ago, there were 18 IC bus routes and 40 connections from the offshoot Berlin-Linienbus (BLB), which operated aggressively with low prices in competition with rail services, expanded strongly and incurred losses in the process.
At the end of 2016, due to political pressure, the state-owned company completely discontinued BLB offers and in the following years also shortened the network of IC buses, whose tickets can be booked online in the DB system, just as conveniently as train tickets.
Now the last lines are also gone. These include the connections from the Mannheim central bus station to Prague via Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Würzburg and Nuremberg as well as from the Munich central bus station to Zurich and from Leipzig to Prague. The long-distance buses are mainly used on routes where the journey by train has previously taken longer and changes are necessary. There are now trains to Prague from Berlin and Bavaria every two hours, said a DB spokesman.
Flixbus has thus displaced all competitors
With the discontinuation of IC buses, market leader Flixbus almost becomes a monopoly, there are hardly any other offers. In the nearly eight years since the long-distance bus business was liberalized, the Munich startup has now ousted all other competitors or, like the buses from Deutsche Post, taken over. However, the company is also suffering with dwindling demand due to the pandemic, currently drives only a third of the offer and complains about dumping prices of the railway.
“Private bus companies are suffering massively from the crisis, while DB continues to receive unilateral subsidies,” said Flixbus founder André Schwämmlein to our editorial team. The entire mobility industry is facing major challenges, and it is also about maintaining competition. Schwämmlein accuses the loss-making state-owned company of attacking long-distance buses with dumping prices for train journeys and thereby illegally using state financial aid.
This year alone, DB AG is to receive more than 5 billion euros from the federal government as compensation for corona losses. The federal government decided on the subsidies months ago, but has not yet been approved by the EU Commission in Brussels. The DB competitors on the railways and on the road are demanding strict conditions so that state aid does not harm competition.
Money from financial investors helps
In the long-distance bus business, Flixbus has conquered the market with abundant capital from international financial investors. The guarantee of success is the lean business model, which relies on digital technology, massive online ticket sales, strong networking and willing subcontractors. Flixbus itself has neither buses nor drivers, but cooperates with numerous medium-sized bus companies with whom the conditions for the operation of lines are negotiated.
Many of the partners are in big problems because of Corona, people travel much less and avoid public transport because of the possible risk of infection. Further cuts in offers are not ruled out at Flixbus either, after the long-distance bus connections have already been cut to a third of the previous level. The Flixtrain rail service was also temporarily discontinued. The Berlin-Stuttgart line was even dropped completely for the time being, the partner Leo Express is broke and makes Flixtrain serious allegations.
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