Open access in the Netherlands: Qbuzz wants to run 7 trains from Amsterdam to Paris and Berlin

[DanielB]

The Dutch public transport company Qbuzz wants to run 7 daily trains from Amsterdam to Paris and Berlin as of 2027.
 The relatively small player on the Dutch public transport market (running buses around Dordrecht, Utrecht and Groningen, trams in Utrecht and trains between Dordrecht and Geldermalsen) is a subsidiary of the Italian FS Group.
FS Group is prepared to invest 200 million euros in the purchasing of rolling stock for the Dutch market.
Qbuzz plans to use the investment to purchase Frecciarossa trainsets, managing director mr. Spijksma said.

Source (in Dutch)

Regarding the route to Berlin Qbuzz has requested a route via Hengelo and via Arnhem, but they are planning to choose only one of them. Both trains would be a welcome relief to the current busy NS trains in my opinion.

According to another article, they also want to compete with NS on the busy Amsterdam to Eindhoven route. Think that's a bit more tricky due to possible effects on connections. Though any trigger to have NS improve their quality is welcome.
Their request for a night train Dordrecht - Rotterdam - Utrecht was approved, which is a nice addition to the NS network in my opinion.

For who is interested: the intended timetables for their open access services are specified in their notifications at the Dutch market authority.

Below links directly refer to the applications (in Dutch, but should be easily translated via Google or other means)
- Amsterdam - Berlin
- Amsterdam - Eindhoven
- Amsterdam - Paris

 

[zwk500]

4h30 to Berlin and 3h10 to Paris is pretty good timings. Will do Eurostar(Thalys) good to have some competition on that route. Is this plan affected by the Centraal rebuild and Zuid project or can they work around that for now as (sensible Schengen) borders aren't a problem.

IIRC there's some suggestion of a Dutch OAO looking to run Amsterdam-London, is that part of this group's intentions or would that be somebody else?

 

[Bemined]

As long as the extra services fit in the reserved paths it should not be a problem, there are 2 high speed paths per hour towards Belgium and Thalys/Eurostar don't use all of them. They might have to compete for the best slots though, and capacity for storing and cleaning trains might be limited as well if they don't do a quick turnaround.

As for a Amsterdam - London service, the agreement for the UK terminal states that NS should allow other companies access to the terminal as well at a reasonable fee, so it should be possible for other companies to start services here as well.