After Arriva last week, now Dutch public transport company Qbuzz has announced plans for high-speed trains between Amsterdam and Paris. For both companies, the trains would stop in Antwerp and Brussels en route. The start-up is targeted for January 2027.

The application to the Dutch regulator Authority Consumer & Market (ACM) mentions seven trips in both directions per day, with stops en route in Schiphol, Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Brussels. Qbuzz would use the high-speed Frecciarossa 1000 train on the connection. Qbuzz also has plans for Amsterdam-Berlin and Amsterdam-Eindhoven connections.

Investment of €200 million

The transport company, founded in 2008 and a subsidiary of Dutch Railways between 2013 and 2017, is a subsidiary of Italian railways Ferrovie dell Stato Italiane. In general, it operates services in South Holland, Utrecht, Drenthe, and Groningen.

Qbuzz operates some 700 buses and 27 trams.

For the plans to be present in the Dutch railway market, Qbuzz says it has earmarked 200 million euros.

Comptetion for Eurostar

Last week, Arriva, which like Qbuzz operates regional public transport in the Netherlands, announced plans to run a high-speed train (from Groningen) between Amsterdam and Paris every day from June 2026, with stops along the way in places such as Antwerp and Brussels. Arriva is part of the German rail operator Deutsche Bahn.

If the plans become concrete, it will mean additional competition for Eurostar (which merged with Thalys last year) on the Amsterdam-Brussels-Paris Line. Belgian rail operator NMBS/SNCB has an 18,5 stake in the HST operator.

Open access

Qbuzz and Arriva are already announcing the plans as the Dutch government has said it wants to make the international rail links part of the main rail network unless other applications were made in time. It would like to award the concession for the main rail network to Dutch Railways NS), which would allow that rail company to continue providing the main connections beyond 2025.

Qbuzz in turn takes advantage of European legislation requiring ‘open access’ on the railways. Carriers can offer transport services on the railways at their own risk and without government subsidies.

Market analysis

Recently, there was an emergency appeal ruling by the Court of The Hague in which it was stated that the Dutch State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management Vivianne Heijnen is obliged under European regulations to conduct a market analysis and thus determine which train services can be offered by the market and for which public financial support is needed.

Qbuzz also applied for an overnight train between Dordrecht and Utrecht Centraal in March. That was recently approved by the ACM. Qbuzz expects this train to start running in December 2024. “It is a confirmation that more competition on the railways is possible,” explained Qbuzz chief Gerrit Spijksma.