Two private rail operators are attacking the almost monopoly position of state-owned rail company ZSSK by launching new and cheaper journeys on the Bratislava-Kosice and Zilina Kosice routes.
At present, you pay around EUR 20 for the Bratislava-Kosice trip, according to an article in Hospodarske Noviny today, while the new operator on the route from the Czech Republic, RegioJet, is hoping to offer the rail journey for less than EUR 10 in the beginning. The company plans to launch the new service from Bratislava to Kosice from 14 December 2014. RegioJet launched operations in the south of Slovakia back in 2012.
The other company, Leo Expres, also from the Czech Republic, is attacking the Zilina-Kosice route.
The daily cites head of ZSSK’s communication department as acknowledging the new competition, with the company planning its own countermeasures, which will also most likely affect the prices.