GoVolta connections from Amsterdam to Berlin and Hamburg

On 8 December 2025, GoVolta announced its intercity service from Amsterdam to Berlin and Hamburg, starting 19 March 2026 and 20 March 2026, respectively; at first, three times a week each, before increasing to daily in December. The service will alternate between Berlin and to Hamburg, with services to Berlin on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, and Hamburg on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Founded by Hessel Winkelman and Maarten Bastian, GoVolta aims to provide budget international train services from the Netherlands. The duo started their first business in 2010 called Flywise, where they sold bundled budget flights and hotels. From 2021 they branched into bundling night train and hotel reservations under the brand Green City Trips, where the trains were chartered from Train Charter Services (TCS). In 2025, Green City Trips was acquired by European Sleeper. With their experience selling night trains under Green City Trip, it will be interesting to see how GoVolta does with regular trains during the day.

Amsterdam to Berlin

There were multiple notices submitted by GoVolta to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) since 2023 for various routes and frequency combinations. Admittedly, I was sceptical, and still am to an extent, but it’s good to see a firm announcement from the company in December 2025.

The service to Berlin begins at Amsterdam Centraal at 08:34 and ends at Berlin-Gesundbrunnen at 15:20, that’s 6 hours and 46 minutes of travel time. The train stops at Amersfoort, Deventer, Hengelo, Bad Bentheim, Osnabrück and Hannover. In GoVolta’s initial notice to ACM, the service was planned to terminate at Flughafen Berlin after stopping at Berlin Hbf.

The return journey begins at 15:46 from Berlin-Gesundbrunnen and arrives at Amsterdam Centraal at 23:55. Also, there appears to be an error on GoVolta’s booking site because of the 3-hour and 27-minute gap between Berlin and Hannover!

This serice will begin on 19 March 2026 and run on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Amsterdam to Hamburg

The service to Hamburg starts a little earlier at Amsterdam Centraal at 08:05 and ends at Hamburg Hbf at 13:26, which comes out to 5 hours and 21 minutes of travel time. In between the train stops at Amersfoort, Deventer, Hengelo, Bad Bentheim and Bremen. The return journey begins at 14:21 from Hamburg with an arrival time of 20:26 at Amsterdam Centraal. That brings the total travel time to 6 hours and 5 minutes.

The first service begins on 20 March 2026 and will run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I believe this will be GoVolta’s main differentiator, as there are no direct connections to Hamburg from Amsterdam by train.

Bookings and cost

GoVolta advertises itself as a low-cost alternative to other forms of transport to these destinations. After looking at their website and booking platform, I can definitely say the first impression is of a low-cost airline.

The carrier offers two travel classes, which they call economy and comfort. Economy class features an “open carriage” arrangement with an option to book an XL Duo Seat, which reserves the seat opposite you at a discounted rate. Comfort class is in a 2-1 setup and is more spacious.

In the press release, the lowest-cost one-way ticket is advertised at 10 euros, with the average one-way ticket being 30 euros. Looking at the booking calendar, I was unable to find a ticket for 10 euros, with the majority of them being between 25 and 60 euros, depending on start and end stations.

While booking, there are also additional charges to reserve a seat and change the name on a ticket after purchase. While these extra charges are annoying, I do like that you can select your seat in the carriage on a seatmap and every ticket comes with a guaranteed seat reservation. You are also allowed two bags (55x40x25cm and 30x20x15cm); space for an extra or larger bag needs to be purchased with the ticket.

Rolling stock

GoVolta has purchased 13 I10 carriages that previously belonged to SNCF, according to Thibault Lapers from Mobilithib. However, International Railway Journal reports the purchase of 11 I10 carriages instead. I was unable to confirm which was accurate through my online searches.

The marketing images created by GoVolta show a Siemens Vectron locomotive pulling carriages in a GoVolta livery. Whether we can expect the livery to be on the locomotive and carriages by 19 March is yet to be seen, but using a Vectron will be likely given their versatility.

One of these carriages in each service will be a lounge with hot and cold drinks, snacks and light meals, according to the press release.

GoVolta has partnered with Keolis Nederland for the day-to-day operations of the trains and Brouwer Technology for the maintenance of the equipment.

Alternatives to Berlin

The two direct alternatives to GoVolta at this time are the Intercity Berlin provided by NS and DB and European Sleeper’s night train between Brussels and Berlin via Amsterdam.

Interity Berlin

The Intercity Berlin runs five times a day with the ICE 3neo, starting at Amsterdam Centraal and ending at Berlin Hbf; the whole service takes 5 hours and 51 minutes. The train stops at Hilversum, Amersfoort, Apeldoorn, Deventer, Hengelo, Bad Bentheim, Rhein, Osnabrück, Bünde, Hannover, Berlin Spandau, and Berlin Hbf.

This service is also separated into first and second class, with non-flexible second class tickets going for 38 euros one-way, if you book them in advance. In my experience, you are most likely to get a 70-80 euro one-way second-class ticket with a seat reservation if you are planning a trip closer to departure, only slightly higher than GoVolta.

As far as luggage goes, you’re free to take large suitcases with you; there are large racks at the end of the carriages. If you’re bringing along a bicycle, you can reserve a spot in advance for a fee. GoVolta currently does not allow bicycles according to their FAQ.

European Sleeper

With European Sleeper you can board their night train that runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Amsterdam Centraal and get to Berlin Hbf in 7 hours and 37 minutes.

The train stops at a few more stations in the Netherlands so there’s more options for a direct trip. In the Netherlands the service stops at Roosendaal, Rotterdam Centraal, Den Haag HS, Amsterdam Centraal, Amersfoort Centraal and Deventer before entering Germany and directly stopping at Berlin Hbf and Berlin Ostbahnhof.

A ticket can be bought for 20 euros with a reservation in a seating compartment of six passengers and no date flexibility.

European Sleeper does not charge extra for baggage but does encourage passengers to bring “no more than one suitcase or backpack and a small daypack.” Bicycles can be reserved on some trains.

Future expansion

While services to Germany have not yet begun, the press release already mentions a planned daily service from Amsterdam to Paris starting in December 2026 and future connections to Frankfurt, Munich, Copenhagen, Bruges and Basel. The connection to Copenhagen could be an extension of their planned service to Hamburg.

The more competition the better especially if this means more travel destinations by rail, let’s see what 2026 holds for GoVolta.