FROM HAMBURG TO BERLIN
David versus Goliath: German express operator Pinkbus is tiny compared to long-haul giant Flixbus but it offers the cheapest tickets on the busy, non-stop route linking the northern port of Hamburg with Berlin. MARTIN BENSLEY paid just €3.99 each way to travel between the two cities, a ride of just over three hours.
Hamburg’s modern central bus station is grey, bleak and near deserted on this dull Thursday morning at 08:00 but a splash of colour soon comes into sight with the arrival of the Pinkbus express to Berlin.The lilac-liveried MAN-powered Neoplan Tourliner pulls in 10 minutes early for the scheduled 08:15 run which is sandwiched between two of the hourly Flixbus departures from here to the German capital. Twenty mainly young passengers and a few parents with children are there to board it.
Running the route seems hardly profitable, but for Cologne-based Pinkbus this is about gaining a foothold
With the engine running and radio blaring, our young Albanian driver Erk smiles as he checks the online tickets. I paid €3.99 (£3.32) for a one-way trip and the same for a return. After stowing items of luggage, our driver reverses the coach out of its bay and departs exactly on time.
