The Berlin dispensation

The grip of the Bahn has generally militated against the development of coach services in Germany — despite the country having an excellent network of highways. There are one or two exceptions. More relaxed rules have applied on routings to and from Berlin, a legacy of the Cold War period when West Berlin was an isolated fragment of territory (occupied by the United States and its allies) in the heart of East Germany.

Particularly since the unification of Germany in 1990, a consortium of coach operators (running road services with the blessing of the railways under the Berlin Linien Bus banner) has linked Berlin with cities in western Germany, compensating for what were — particularly in the early days after unification — poor rail services from the principal West German cities to Berlin.

New markets, new players

Yes, you get the drift. The German Railways have effective stifled competition by long-distance coach services. That changes at the end of this year. A number of non-German operators are eyeing up the inner-German market. Britain’s National Express is a player to watch. French transport conglomerate Veolia Transdev is also said to be interested.

Return of the Postbus and international operators

There will surely be some German operators, too. The Deutsche Post is edging into an alliance with ADAC (an unlikely partner, some might say, as it is a membership organization that promotes the interests of automobile owners) to launch coach services on German highways. It seems that the return of the postbus is nigh.

Among the other home-grown talent are Deinbus, MeinFernbus and Flixbus. All are young companies poised to catch a share of this new market.

The change in law will also greatly benefit the many international operators who run ultra-long distance coach services across Germany, but who are presently precluded from taking any inner-German traffic. Their services are currently only available to passengers making international journeys.

Changing attitudes

Many Germans find it hard to get their heads round the idea that anyone might actually want to take a long-distance coach rather than a train. Were they to look to their European neighbors, they would find many countries where road and rail compete or offer complementary services in the long-distance domestic market. England is one such, where the National Express network not only links major cities, but really comes in handy for certain cross-country journeys where there may be no competing direct rail service.

Learning from the East

For a few lessons on road-rail competition, Germans might look over their eastern border to neighboring Poland, where PolskiBus aggressively set out to capture a slice of the domestic leisure travel market, often undercutting the journey time on parallel rail routes. In practice, they have also picked up a loyal following among business travelers too.

Further east in the Baltic States, coaches trump trains as the first choice option on most domestic routes and also for international hops between the Baltic capitals. Regular buses run non-stop from Riga to Tallinn in less than five hours. The once-daily rail connection between the two cities takes more than eight hours, and travelers must change from a Latvian to an Estonian train at the border.

Following the Irish lead

In many peripheral areas of Europe where rail networks are sparse, the coach has long been the preferred means of transport. Comfortable Bus Éireann coaches speed from Sligo to Galway in just 2hrs 45mins. In theory, one might take the train, but it involves a long detour via Dublin and a journey time of over six hours.

New links

Now German travelers will be able to discover that coach transport can be fast, comfortable and safe. Würzburg and Heidelberg are just 90 miles apart. But the fastest train connections between the two cities take well over two hours. A new network of domestic coach services will help plug the gaps in the German rail network.

Liberalization, of the kind that Germans are about to witness, has already transformed coach travel in many parts of Europe. Next week, in our last article for EuroCheapo in 2012, we shall look at a bright new crop of entrepreneurial coach operators providing budget travel between London and the near-Continent.

The post Coach Travel: A revolution on German highways appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

The Eurolines network

The most convenient network of services for travelers looking to travel around Europe by coach is coordinated by Eurolines. This is not one company but a strong alliance of coach operators who coordinates their timetables and provide integrated ticketing for international journeys across Europe. This gives a continent-wide brand for marketing purposes and allows passengers to plan complicated itineraries that criss-cross Europe.

There are of course many long distance coach services in Europe that are not part of the Eurolines network. For example the Czech company Student Agency runs some two dozen routes from their hub in Prague. PolskiBus has a network of eight routes from Warsaw, the fledglng company’s growing network now also serving Vienna, Berlin, Bratislava and Prague. There are many itineraries where these non-Eurolines operators precisely fill a gap, but for its Europe-wide reach to over 500 cities, Eurolines has no serious rival.

Useful long-distance links

Eurolines does offer some intriguingly long routes. For example, service 350 operates thrice weekly direct from Amsterdam to Lisbon (“Lisboa” in Portuguese), a 36-hour journey that connects two cities some 1,500 miles apart. Even longer direct routes link cities in western Germany with provincial centers in the Russian Federation.

Good for shorter hops too

The Eurolines network thus often steps in with a convenient direct link on a routing that would require several changes of train. With Eurolines, you can board a bus in Switzerland and travel directly to Macedonia or Moldova.

But such long hauls may not be for everyone. And we find that Eurolines-affiliated services are also perfect for shorter hops, particularly in those parts of Europe where rail services are sparse. For example, comfortable long-distance coaches, most of them operating under the Eurolines umbrella, are far better than trains for journeys between the capitals of the Baltic States: Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.

And there are times where it is just fun to travel by road for a change. There are several Eurolines coaches each day from London to Paris and other French cities. While most Eurolines schedules from London to France use the Eurotunel vehicle shuttle service, some are routed via the P&O Ferries link from Dover to Calais – always a great way to cross the Channel. And with return fares for the London to Paris run starting at just £39, the coach option can make good sense for budget travelers.

Book online

Bookings can be made online for most journeys, usually on the website of the Eurolines affiliate in your country of departure. But that does NOT mean that you need to know which particular company flies the Eurolines flag in each country. The organization maintains an excellent web portal, where you can click on the country of departure to be redirected to the relevant national site.

Here are some sample travel times (with the travel time of the fastest direct train shown for comparison):

• Brussels to Zürich: 9h 45m by Eurolines (train 8h 19m)
• Berlin to Prague: 4h 30m by Eurolines (train 4h 30m)
• Zagreb to Munich: 8h by Eurolines (train 8h 25m)
• Copenhagen to Stockholm: 9h 45m by Eurolines (train 4h 20m)
• Paris to Amsterdam: 8h by Eurolines (train 3h 19m)
• Vienna to Budapest: 2h 55m by Eurolines (train 2h 55m)

National partners

Although Eurolines coach services are principally intended for international journeys, in many countries you can also use Eurolines services for domestic journeys that cross no international borders. And many of the participating companies in the Eurolines family also have comprehensive national networks which allow you to switch seamlessly from international to national services.

For example the UK participant in Eurolines is National Express. And you can use the National Express website to book a through journey from many provincial spots around Britain to the continent. A single ticket (for example Manchester to Paris) covers travel on a National Express coach to London where you connect onto an onward Eurolines service for the continent.

More on Eurolines

Now that we’ve introduced Eurolines coach journeys, it’s time to take a little closer at their fares. Read our next post on Eurolines passes, with some tips on getting the best deals, and see how a coach pass can allow you to roam at will across Europe on Eurolines services.

Rail pass options

Interested in seeing a full list of rail pass options? Visit our booking partner, Rail Europe, to compare rates, destinations covered and see their latest promotions.

The post Eurolines: International coach journeys in Europe appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.