(Berlin, September 19, 2016) ) Deutsche Bahn will be completely integrating its long-distance bus operations with its core rail business: The two current brands will be combined into a consolidated long-distance bus service starting in 2017 under the brand name IC Bus and will then be further expanded as a full-fledged part of the intermodal DB mobility chain.
“We’ve analyzed and evaluated the market development over the last few years in depth. The conclusion: Long distance buses have established themselves as a vital element in the German mobility market, and have become the model for interconnected transport compared to the use of individual lines”, said Berthold Huber, DB Board Member for Traffic and Transport. “With its close integration of long-distance bus lines with the overall DB mobility network, IC Bus has been found to be more popular with consumers and economically more sustainable in comparison with our two previous business models.”
With this restructuring, DB long-distance bus service will be more strongly involved in the future in the long-distance customer campaign started in 2015. DB will expand its long-distance rail service by 25 percent between now and 2030, and wants to thus gain an additional 50 million passengers per year.
“Along with the new ICE network for metropolitan area traffic with over 150 more journeys per day than currently and the new IC network for the area with 190 new direct connections to nearly all major German cities, we’re expanding IC Bus as the optimum addition to the dense long-distance rail network”, said Huber. “We’re combining the long-distance rail network, which cannot be beaten on network density or journey speed, with the advantages of the flexibility of long-distance buses, thus bringing the long-distance rail and bus market closer together. That’s how we want to capture more passengers for rail and long-distance buses. Separate consideration of these markets makes little sense to us, since it does not take actual customer needs into account.”
Service under the BLB brand will finish at the end of 2016. The IC Bus network will then gradually be expanded with suitable BLB lines. Tourist lines and cross-border routes will especially be included in the IC Bus network in the future, for example Berlin-Usedom, Hamburg-Bremen-Amsterdam and Berlin-Hamburg-Copenhagen.
In the future, long-distance bus passengers with IC Bus will benefit from unified and comprehensive integration with the proven range of services offered by DB: This applies to the benefits of the BahnCard (including participants in the bahn.bonus program), from special prices for transfer connections to implementing passenger rights in the event of delays. IC Bus tickets and combined rail/bus/mobility offers can be purchased at all DB ticket outlets or through DB Navigator. Bus schedules and routes are directly coordinated with rail traffic schedules. Huber: “Our customers thus benefit from fully integrated mobility services from a single source, and the BahnCard takes one more step towards becoming a comprehensive mobility card.”