Rede Expressos, controlled by Grupo Barraqueiro, announced it will allow competitor FlixBus access to the Sete Rios bus terminal starting next September 24, from which date the German company will be able to operate 21 schedules. The Portuguese company justifies that it can only grant access after FlixBus obtains the necessary authorizations from the regulator, conditions that are expected to be met this month.
FlixBus, which has been accusing Rede Expressos of delaying access to the terminal, has filed a lawsuit against the company and its managers, complaining that the March decision by the Administrative Court of Lisbon was not complied with. The German company adds that there is no alternative but to proceed with the executive action of the sentence and file a criminal complaint against the managers of Rede Expressos to ensure effective compliance with the court decision.
FlixBus claims losses exceeding 12 million euros due to the "blockade" at the Sete Rios terminal and highlights that, almost six months after the court decision, it still has no effective access. The German company states that Rede Expressos has been placing successive conditions on compliance with the decision, the most recent being making access dependent on the lifting of the suspension of authorizations for new routes, as determined by IMT. FlixBus reinforces that there is no guarantee of entry on September 24, proof of this is that there are still no trips by the company on sale to and from this terminal.
Owned by Grupo Barraqueiro, Rede Expressos operates its own bus network and is the managing entity of the Sete Rios terminal, next to the Lisbon Zoo. This mechanism was created in 2003 through a protocol between the Lisbon City Council, owner of the land, and RNE. In 2017, FlixBus, a company founded in Munich in 2011, requested authorization to operate at the same terminal, but has faced refusal from RNE, taking the matter to court.
