RegioJet issued certificate to operate trains in Germany
Central Europe's largest private rail carrier has taken an important step towards its further expansion.
The European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) issued a single safety certificate for RegioJet. The area of operation covers Germany. The carrier can now operate passenger trains in five European countries: the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany.
This opens up the opportunity for RegioJet to expand into one of Europe’s largest markets, where competition in long-distance rail services is not very strong. Deutsche Bahn operates most of the services, and FlixTrain operates some long-distance trains.
“RegioJet holds a single safety certificate for operation in Austria. Since March 2022 we have been providing services to Vienna and Budapest. We have now received a certificate from the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) that allows us to develop new routes with destinations in Germany, as well as transit services to other Western European countries via Germany,” says Jakub Svoboda, Managing Director at RegioJet.
With the certificate for Germany, RegioJet was able to extend its certificate for Austria to include freight transport. RegioJet is thus continuing its strategy of obtaining certificates for rail freight transport in all neighboring countries. Among Czech passenger carriers, only Leo Express has been certified to operate in Germany so far.
Edited and translated by Lucie Trávníčková