Saturday, March 22, 2025
GoVolta in the Netherlands faces financial challenges but secures €24M investment for Siemens locomotives, continuing its plans for expanding European rail travel.
GoVolta has returned its allocated route rights between Amsterdam and Berlin, Copenhagen, and Basel due to financial challenges faced by the company.
In late 2023, entrepreneurs Hessel Winkelman and Maarten Bastian, known for their GreenCityTrip brand and Flywise, introduced their vision for GoVolta. Retailers like Kruidvat, Albert Heijn, and Hema expressed interest in selling tickets, with 70% of tickets sold in advance.
The company’s journey has been marked by difficulties, including conflicts with subcontractors and complications with securing its train operating license. GoVolta had been in discussions with Rabobank about financing the rolling stock, with an estimated investment of nearly €7m ($9.08m) needed.
Despite commissioning valuation reports and setting up new companies to push forward, Rabobank decided against providing the loan after an eight-month review, citing the project’s high risk.
While the financing for the carriages remains uncertain, Winkelman confirmed that €24m ($31.1m) has been secured for five Siemens Vectron locomotives, with an option to acquire more next year.
GoVolta also plans to provide locomotive services to other operators, with multiple parties already showing interest.
At present, NS International remains the only operator running international trains in the Netherlands, in partnership with Eurostar, Deutsche Bahn, and NMBS/SNCB.
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