Lockdown: Flixbus and Flixtrain Suspend Operations

Flixbus will temporarily suspend its operations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland from November 3 due to the new Corona contact restrictions. The long-distance train company Flixtrain will also temporarily cease operations starting Tuesday, as announced by Flixmobility according to dpa. “When the Chancellor asks not to travel, it naturally affects demand," said FlixMobility co-founder and managing director André Schwämmlein to “Welt am Sonntag”. “That's why we're shutting down our bus and train operations completely in November, hoping to be able to serve our customers with Flixbus at Christmas. Flixtrain is temporarily taking a winter break.”

Already in the spring, the company had temporarily stopped its services due to the Corona restrictions. “In the summer, we were able to serve about half of our network again. We follow demand very closely,” Schwämmlein reported. In October, however, there was again a "reduced desire to travel." “At the moment, we are at about 30%, but we will reduce completely again because the political wish is that people do not travel,” said the Flixbus chief.

No Minimum Operation for Flixtrain

According to the company, Flixtrain would have liked to maintain a minimum operation for rail traffic. “For economic reasons, this is unfortunately not possible.” Deutsche Bahn AG, on the other hand, maintains operations largely without restrictions. Although according to Flixmobility, the EU legal framework would allow for immediate assistance such as waiving or reducing track access charges, there are no efforts of this kind from the federal government.

Unfortunately, the federal government is once again missing an opportunity to support the private mobility sector during the crisis. (Schwämmlein)

It will be examined “whether we should focus more on other markets with investments in Flixtrain after the pandemic, where private providers are exposed to fair competition.”

Call to Refrain from Traveling

On Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed with the ministers-president of the federal states on extensive contact restrictions to reduce the number of new corona infections in the coming weeks. The federal government’s resolution states, among other things: “Citizens are urged to generally refrain from unnecessary private trips and visits – even to relatives. This also applies within the country and for interregional day tourism excursions.”