Key takeaways
- FlixTrain is a sales brand, not an operational term. The name is on the coaches; the trains have been, and partly still are, run by partner companies.
- The locomotive almost never belongs to the brand. It comes from a lessor or a partner railway undertaking and carries that company's keeper marking.
- Commercial means no subsidising authority. Nobody puts these routes out to tender, which is why they can appear and disappear at short notice.
- Second-hand coaches shape the picture. A single train can contain coaches from several origins, united only by the livery.
- For a sighting, the locomotive number is what counts - it's the only part of the train that can be unambiguously identified.
Contents
- 1.Fact file
- 2.Business areas
- 3.Structure & brands
- 4.History at a glance
- 5.How to recognise the company
- 6.Strengths and weaknesses
- 7.A brand that buys in capacity
- 8.Who’s actually running the train under the green lettering?
- 9.What actually identifies the green train
- 10.Open access compared with subsidised services
- 11.How often will you see the same locomotive twice?
- 12.When a route disappears
- 13.Verdict
- 14.Frequently asked questions
Fact file
| What it is | A long-distance brand operating on a commercial, non-subsidised basis |
|---|---|
| Business model | Sales, marketing and capacity planning - operation partly handled by partners |
| Type of service | Locomotive-hauled passenger trains on long-distance corridors, not multiple units |
| Operating level | its own company plus changing partner railway undertakings |
| Vehicle origin | leased locomotives and mostly second-hand passenger coaches |
| Competitive role | open-access operator alongside Deutsche Bahn's long-distance services |
| How to identify it in the field | the locomotive's keeper marking, not the green livery |
| Official website | www.flixtrain.de |
Business areas
Structure & brands
History at a glance
How to recognise FlixTrain
Does the train really belong to FlixTrain?
- Bright green with light lettering - the most striking marker, but only a marketing feature
- Locomotive with a rake of coaches instead of a multiple unit - unusual for modern long-distance services in Germany
- Mismatched coaches in the same train - second-hand vehicles of varying origins
- Locomotives in someone else's base colour hauling green coaches - a very common and entirely normal sight
- The locomotive's keeper marking, which has nothing to do with the brand - that's where the actual company is named
- Few stops over long corridors - the train category differs from ICE and IC
- No transport association or regional logos - a sign of commercial, non-subsidised service
Strengths and weaknesses
What the company stands for
- Unusual train formations of a locomotive and second-hand coaches are visually appealing
- Changing locomotives mean every sighting is potentially something new
- The trains run on well-accessible main corridors with plenty of documented photo spots
- The brand makes competition in long-distance rail visible right at the trackside
- Train category and colour make the train recognisable from a distance
Where it falls short
- The green colour tells you nothing about which railway undertaking is running the train
- Locomotives change at short notice - planned shots are hard to guarantee
- Routes and frequencies change faster than in subsidised regional services
- There's barely any reliable public information on the fleet or the contractual relationships
- The brand is frequently confused with the identically named coach service, which has nothing to do with rail
Updated: August 2026 – A green rake of coaches on the platform, a locomotive in a completely different colour at the front, carrying a keeper marking that has nothing to do with the lettering on the coaches. Anyone who looks at FlixTrain closely for the first time immediately trips over the basic rule of this section: the name on the side wall is a brand, not a company.
Log the locomotive before it changes
On open-access long-distance trains, the traction changes constantly. Note the number while the train is still standing.
A brand that buys in capacity
The business model explains almost everything you see at the trackside. The brand sells tickets, plans routes and sets the look. Everything that follows - train path, locomotive, coaches, staff - is procured, hired in, or handed to partners. That’s why the same named service can run on two different days with different locomotives, different coaches, and in extreme cases under the responsibility of different companies.
The second defining factor is the word commercial (eigenwirtschaftlich). In regional services, a transport authority orders the service and sets the timetable, vehicles and often even the livery. Here there’s nobody placing an order. The route exists as long as it pays for itself, and disappears when it doesn’t. That’s the reason for this service’s noticeable volatility - and why old network maps go out of date here especially fast.
Who’s actually running the train under the green lettering?
The company behind the brand is Flixtrain GmbH. But it isn’t the only player involved: over the years several partners have run trains under this brand, including charter and special-train specialists like BahnTouristikExpress as well as private long-distance operators like RDC Deutschland. Leo Express Global also turns up in this context, because a competitor it took over was sold through the same sales channel.
That’s exactly where the difficulty for sighting lists lies: an entry of “FlixTrain” is not an operator record, it’s a product record. It sits at the same level as “ICE” or “RE” - and the comparison with DB Fernverkehr shows why that matters: there the brand almost always coincides with the railway undertaking, here almost never.
Photograph the locomotive from an angle
From that position you get the front, the side wall and usually also the data panel in a single shot. For a train whose coaches carry a uniform livery while its locomotive doesn't, that's the only framing that will still tell you something later.
What actually identifies the green train
Check the train formation
Locomotive plus passenger coaches, not a multiple unit. That alone narrows things down considerably in German long-distance services.
Look at the coaches
Uniform livery but mismatched builds and window arrangements - a typical sign of refurbished second-hand coaches.
Treat the locomotive separately
The locomotive's colour, type and keeper marking often have nothing to do with the brand. Log it as its own sighting.
Take note of the train number
It places the service in time and helps with reconstruction later - how it's built up is explained in the article on train numbers.
Read the data panel
Country code, keeper marking, twelve-digit number. That's the only piece of information on the whole train that doesn't change with the next contract.
Open access compared with subsidised services
| Criterion | Commercial long-distance service | Subsidised regional service | Classic DB long-distance service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who decides on the route | the company itself | the transport authority | the company itself |
| Who bears the risk | the company | mostly the public purse | the company |
| Livery | brand’s own choice | often set by the commissioning body | the group’s house colours |
| Vehicle origin | leasing and second-hand market | mostly purpose-procured | own fleet |
| Stability of the service | low, market-dependent | contractually secured for years | medium to high |
| What you should note | locomotive number and date | vehicle number and route | vehicle number and train number |
The table also explains why the vehicles look the way they do. Anyone not financing a brand-new fleet buys second-hand - and buying second-hand gets you variety. For photography that’s a gain, for identification a headache.
A further difference only becomes clear on a second look: in subsidised services, vehicles are often licensed and fitted out for exactly one network, whereas in open access they’re kept as universal as possible. That’s why multi-system locomotives, also usable across borders and in freight service, tend to turn up there. A machine hauling a green passenger train today can be found in front of a train of tank wagons tomorrow - same number, completely different context. Anyone who only collects passenger trains regularly misses the fact that they already have the same locomotive in their logbook. The difference between long-distance and regional services is broken down in more detail in the article Regional versus long-distance services.
See where the green trains are being reported right now
Other spotters report sightings in real time - so you know whether waiting at the platform is worth it.
How often will you see the same locomotive twice?
Is it worth waiting for a specific locomotive?
A rough guide. The real pool isn't publicly documented and fluctuates with leasing contracts.
When a route disappears
Your sighting stays valid if …
- you noted the full locomotive number
- date, time and location are recorded alongside it
- you kept brand and operator as separate fields
You need to check further if …
- you only noted "green train"
- the locomotive ran in someone else's colours and you couldn't identify it
- the train was running as a replacement or diversion service
It isn't a sighting of this brand if …
- only the locomotive is green while it's hauling someone else's coaches
- it's a charter or special train with no connection to the brand
- you saw the identically named coach service
Special liveries make things even more confusing. A locomotive in advertising colours is still the same vehicle type with the same number - the article on advertising locomotives and special liveries shows how to categorise cases like that.
The end of the platform is not a photo spot
Especially with trains whose locomotive stands well forward, it's tempting to wander past the end of the platform. That's not permitted and is consistently stopped on long-distance platforms. What applies is set out in the article on house rules at stations; for distances see safe distance from the track.
Verdict
FlixTrain is the clearest German case for the fact that brand and operation are two different things. The green is a sales decision, not an operational feature. Photograph the train and note the brand, and you’ve documented a product; note the locomotive number, and you’ve documented a vehicle.
For spotters that’s no drawback, but the actual appeal. Hardly any other service in Germany changes its traction as often - and hardly any rewards close attention as immediately.
Quick verdict
Green is the brand, not the operator. The train is run by a company named in the data panel of the locomotive - and that can differ from journey to journey.
Every locomotive counts - log it
With Traintrack you record locomotive, date and location in seconds, and later see which machine ran in front of which train, and when.
Summary
- Photograph a green long-distance train and you've documented the brand, but not yet identified a company.
- The interesting part of the train is at the front: the locomotive, its keeper marking and number reveal who's actually involved.
- Commercial long-distance services are volatile - routes, vehicles and partners can change within a single timetable period.
- That very volatility is what makes the brand such a rewarding thing to collect: hardly any train ever looks exactly the same twice.
Frequently asked questions
Is FlixTrain a railway undertaking in its own right?
The brand belongs to its own company, run as Flixtrain GmbH. Historically, though, the trains were run by partner railway undertakings, and locomotives still regularly come from third parties today. For you at the trackside that means: the lettering doesn't reliably answer the question of who's operating - the locomotive's keeper marking does.
Who has run the green trains?
Several companies have been involved over the years, including the charter specialist BahnTouristikExpress and other private railway undertakings such as RDC Deutschland. Which company ran a specific service can only be reconstructed afterwards via the vehicle number and date. That's exactly why it's worth noting both.
Why are the coaches so mismatched?
Because they're mostly second-hand passenger coaches that were refurbished and given a uniform livery. Origin, build year and interior fittings can differ within a single train. For spotters that's an advantage: the coach formation and vehicle mix are a small puzzle to solve on every train, and the article on reading coach formations helps you unpick it.
Which locomotives haul these trains?
Typical are modern multi-system main-line locomotives from the leasing market, such as machines of the Vectron and TRAXX families; second-hand express locomotives such as the Class 101 have also turned up in open-access long-distance service. Which locomotive is coupled up on a given day can't be reliably predicted. The company doesn't publish an official fleet list.
What does open-access long-distance service mean?
It means nobody orders and pays for this service. Unlike regional services, where a transport authority puts out a tender, here the company bears the full commercial risk and keeps the fare revenue. Access to the network is regulated under European law and is open to any licensed company - which is why this model is also called open access.
Does FlixTrain run abroad too?
Cross-border services have existed, but they're considerably more volatile than the core network. Every national border requires licensing, staff and vehicles compliant with that country's rules, which raises the effort involved. Check the current timetable rather than an older network map to see which international connections currently exist.
What's the difference to Locomore?
Locomore was a standalone open-access operator that, after its insolvency, was taken over and for a time sold through this brand's sales channel. Both cases show the same structure: one brand name, a different operator, and yet another vehicle keeper. The difference lies mainly in how long the model held up.
Does the brand have anything to do with the green coach services?
Only the name and the sales channel. Coach and rail are technically, legally and operationally completely separate worlds - a coach needs no railway licence, no train path and no data panel. That separation matters for sighting lists: a green coach is not a rail sighting, even if the logo is the same.
Where's the best place to photograph these trains?
On the major long-distance corridors and at terminus and hub stations, where the train stands still and the locomotive is accessible from the front. Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, Köln Hauptbahnhof and Berlin Hauptbahnhof are well documented for this. On the open line you'll get better pictures, but rarely the data panel.
How do I log a sighting when everything keeps changing?
By documenting what doesn't change: the locomotive's vehicle number, date, time and location. Enter brand, route and operator as additional fields, not as the core of the sighting. The guide to the sighting logbook describes how to build an archive from this that survives several changes of operator.
Log vehicles from FlixTrain
Company, vehicle, location and date logged in seconds – and visible to the community.
The operational level in the railway operator database
Who actually runs the trains, with keeper markings and identifying features on the vehicle.
Flixtrain GmbH
Flixtrain runs long-distance services on its own account rather than under contract to a public body. That explains the green brand, changing vehicles and route logic.
OtherRDC Deutschland GmbH
RDC Deutschland shares a name stem with car train services. This page explains the wagon types of the car train and how to tell them apart in a train formation.
Long-distanceLeo Express Global
Leo Express Global carries a brand name with a group-level addition. Firms structured like this operate in several countries – identification only becomes clear from the vehicle's country code.
Long-distanceDB Fernverkehr AG
DB Fernverkehr operates the long-distance passenger services of Deutsche Bahn. Service category, train type and data panel quickly lead you to the right classification.
Typical vehicles
Siemens Vectron
The Vectron is Siemens's modular locomotive platform and shapes European freight services. Here's how to identify the variants and read the number correctly.
ClassBombardier TRAXX
TRAXX isn't a single class but a platform: the same base locomotive in many variants. Here's how to decode the type designations and identify the family.
ClassDB Class 101
The Class 101 is Deutsche Bahn's classic long-distance locomotive: 145 engines, 220 km/h, in front of IC and EC trains since the late 1990s. Here's how to reliably recognise it.
ClassDB Class 182
The DB Class 182 is the German numbering variant of the Siemens Taurus. Same locomotive, different markings – here's how to recognise it and place it in the family.
Where you will find FlixTrain
Spotting locations where you will regularly come across vehicles from this organisation – with viewpoints, the best light and coordinates.
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof funnels the whole of Germany's north-south traffic, plus the route to Scandinavia, onto a handful of tracks. That makes it one of the most rewarding spots in the country – and one of the most uncomfortable. Plan around the crowding and you get a hit rate here that hardly any other station can match.
Junction stationKöln Hauptbahnhof
Few stations in Europe pack so much traffic into so little space: over 1,200 train movements a day, eleven platform tracks, and the Hohenzollern Bridge starting right behind the platform ends. Get Köln Hbf right, and you'll have more in the bag after two hours than elsewhere in a whole day.
Junction stationBerlin Hauptbahnhof
Berlin Hauptbahnhof is no ordinary station, but a crossing structure: above the east-west Stadtbahn under a glass roof, below eight tracks in the north-south tunnel. Both levels demand completely different settings – knowing that in advance saves you half the visit.
Junction stationFrankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof
Twenty-four platform tracks side by side, plus two underground stations and over a thousand train movements a day: Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof is Germany's largest terminus station. Use the cross-platform properly and you can log half of German long-distance traffic here in two hours.
More companies
Locomore
Locomore was the best-known attempt to take on the market leader in German long-distance rail with its own brand. Financed through crowdfunding, run by partners, and continued by a foreign operator after its insolvency: hardly any other case shows so clearly that brand and operator are two different things.
BrandBahnTouristikExpress (BTE)
BahnTouristikExpress stands for a car-sleeper train that only runs part of the year and is usually on the move in the dark. The brand belongs to the RDC Group – but the locomotive at the front often belongs to a completely different company. That's exactly where the appeal lies, and the room for error.
GroupDeutsche Bahn AG
Deutsche Bahn AG doesn't run a single train itself. It's a holding company under which dozens of independent companies hold their own licences, rolling stock and transport contracts. Spotting the red DB logo doesn't tell you the operator.
Brand3-Länderbahn
The 3-Länderbahn is a regional network around Siegen whose lines reach into three German states. The brand name has survived a change of operator: where Deutsche Bahn once ran the trains, the Hessische Landesbahn is now in charge – and you'd never guess it from the name.
Related guides from the blog
- Who's Actually Running That Train? How to Identify Railway Operators
- Reading the UIC number: what the 12 digits on a vehicle reveal
- Understanding the Coach Sequence: Standing at the Right Platform Section
- Local vs. Long-Distance Trains: What's the Difference for Spotters?
- Keeping a Sighting Logbook: From Scraps of Paper to a Real Database
- Advertising Locomotives and Special Liveries: How to Track Down Current Vehicles
