Yesterday HKX started train service, several months earlier than planned, on the Hamburg-Osnabrück-Münster-Düsseldorf-Cologne line. Prices are well below DB's for now ranging from €10 - €60. Service is up to 3x daily using some old but refurbished Austrian trains and some trains borrowed from a regional operator.

DB, of course, has a monopoly on intercity train service and huge regulatory authority over regional rail ticket prices, as well as a firm grip on most of the intercity bus service in Germany, which they either operate themselves or is carried out by their partners. The most major exception up until recently was the Leipzig-Berlin-Rostock Interconnex train.

Several new non-DB intercity buses have also forced their way into the intercity market over the last year or two:
- DeinBus operates Munich-Stuttgart-Tübingen, Freiburg-Singen-Konstanz and Freiburg-Tübigen-Stuttgart as well as demand-based "bus pooling" using a legal loophole to organize passengers online as a group to charter buses.
- MeinFernbus are operating Munich-Friedrichshafen-Titisee-Freiburg and Munich-Freidrichshafen-Konstanz.
- bus2fly have expanded Hamburg-Bremen Airport service. Prices are cheaper than the train, though Bremen Airport is realatively conveniat to the city, its hard to say if anyone is using the bus for intercity travel rather than just to reach the airport.
- Delux Express operates Luxembourg-Trier-Kaiserslautern-Mainz-Frankfurt Flughafen-Frankfurt with domestic ticket authority.

As well as the well-established service:
- Jade Express run Oldenburg-Berlin.
- Ab 9 Euro by Deutsche Touring on the Hamburg-Hanover-Frankfurt-Manheim corridor.

Failed attempts at intercity competition with DB so far include:
- Interconnex trains Cologne-Berlin-Rostock and Dresden-Berlin-Stralsund.
- Autobahn Express buses between Dresden, Leipzig, Potsdam, Göttingen and Berlin.

Others looking to compete:
- MSM - planned late fall 2012 start of Cologne-Hannover-Berlin/-Hamburg train service.
- RegioJet / Student Agency - planned Prague-Dreseden-Berlin service with domestic ticket authority but have been pacified by DB bringing them on as a co-operator of bus services from Bavaria to the Czech Republic and as the future co-operator of the existing Prague-Dresden-Berlin trains instead of CD Czech Railways.
- SNCF - threatened to start competing service, though it seems they are more content cooperating with DB on ICE / TGV services.
- Megabus / Stagecoach - has made it clear that they are looking to compete in the intercity coach market across Europe and set services in Contental Europe this year including Polski Bus and Amsterdam-Brüssels-Paris service.


I am not convinced the privatization system is best for the consumer or tax payer, especially considering the poor quality service and heavily tax-payer subsidized results in the UK. Still, if DB is going to be run as a profit oriented company instead of a public service provider, I think its rather important that there are some more affordable options for the travelling public and that the government is proping up a monopoly that isn't interested in serving the public.

The huge amount of ride-share services, including many people who otherwise wouldn't drive, is I think, proof that mobility policy in Germany is not keeping up with needs. Interesting times to come for travelers.