Starting in 2013, the market for regional buses in Germany was liberalized. Under pressure from the EU, the German government finally overturned a 1934 law which protected German railways from regional bus competition. Private companies are now permitted to offer regional bus services - but only for trips longer than 50 kilometers. Bus prices tend to be lower than the same trip by train, but the service tends to be only between major cities (Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg). Two of the larger bus operatiors in this new segment are www.meinfernbus.de and www.flixbus.de.