Deutsche Post is delivering on its announced plans with the initial phase of a significant expansion of its intercity bus network slated to begin in mid-May. Instead of the 60 cities covered to date, Postbus will then reach 120 cities and towns as well as other attractive vacation and leisure destinations - from East Frisia to the Mecklenburg Lake District and Lake Tegernsee. In the north, Neumünster, Lüneburg and other cities will be added, and in the south Ingolstadt, Heilbronn and Tübingen. New destinations in the west include Saarbrücken, Trier and Kaiserslautern, and in the east Halle, Cottbus, Zwickau and Görlitz. Effective immediately, tickets for the new destinations can be booked on the Internet at www.postbus.de, on the phone at 0228/97272797 and in 12,000 Post outlets throughout Germany.

In addition, Postbus will be adding its first night trips on selected routes such as Berlin-Leipzig-Munich, Hamburg-Frankfurt or Cologne-Berlin, so Postbus customers will be able to travel conveniently overnight and have the entire day at their disposal when they reach their destinations.

The frequency of service on popular routes will also increase; starting in May, Postbus will provide service from Berlin to Munich and from Berlin to Frankfurt three times daily instead of twice, and on the route from Berlin to North Rhine-Westphalia, buses will run nine times instead of six.

Postbus is offering an early-booker discount to help promote its newly expanded network. Effective immediately, anyone who books a ticket to or from one of the network's newly-added destinations in March for travel starting May 13 will pay only half the ticket price. To take advantage of this special offer, all customers need to do is provide the promotion code "HALBERPREIS" when booking.

Postbus will add more new - and also international - destinations

Besides expanding its own bus network, Postbus is also entering into a partnership with the Estonian bus operator Lux Express / Simple Express. Starting on March 13, Postbus customers will be able to travel from many German cities to Warsaw and Poznań via Berlin thanks to matching timetables from Postbus and Simple Express. Berlin will then be the hub at which buses from Postbus and Simple Express will meet and where passengers can transfer from one line to the other. Prices for service from Berlin to Warsaw will start at 22 euros, and to Poznań at 17 euros. During the launch of the new routes, special introductory prices will apply for those booking early.

Following the withdrawal of the ADAC from the Deutsche Post Mobility GmbH joint venture last November, the service will now be provided under a new brand, with "ADAC Postbus" changing to "Postbus." The new figurative mark will largely retain the previous design, with the Deutsche Post parent company's Post horn to be added. The new design is to be implemented on all buses by April 1.

A further change is planned for August/September, when Postbus will add more new - and also international - destinations to its network in a second expansion phase to provide an even more attractive selection for its customers. The company will announce details at a later date.

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