FlixBus, known for its green buses to Paris and Amsterdam, will enter Belgium’s domestic transport market. From the end of April passengers will be able to travel from Leuven to Ghent with FlixBus for 4.99 euro. The same route by train costs you 12.70 euro. A one-way ticket with Flixbus from Antwerp to Bruges will also set you back 4.99 euro, as opposed to 15.50 euro by train. The German-based bus company will offer twenty different routes between ten Belgian cities: from Hasselt, via Liege and Verviers, to Ostend. In addition: the buses will have wifi and outlets at each seat.
FlixBus will thus become the first private company that offers intercity bus rides on a regular basis in Belgium. Given its schedule, it will provide some competition to the NMBS/SNCB, but the low frequency will not make it a serious competitor to the national train system. Between most cities, the company will initially provide only a few (two to three) connections per day. Between Brussels and Antwerp, the supply should increase in the short term to ten trips daily.
For the time being, the company does not aim to compete with public transport. They say “had that been the case, we would have handled things differently, with even higher frequency.” For the moment, the company sees itself more as a supplement to the Belgian transport offering, especially during strike actions.
The Brussels Times
