The Pardubice Region has become a regular fox-train operation territory. At the beginning of July, the modernisation of regional trains ordered by the Pardubice Region and operated on the Pardubice – Chrudim – Havlíčkův Brod railway line was completed, where passengers are carried by seven new modern RegioFox diesel multiple units. The Pardubice Region, together with Vysočina (the Highlands Region), has thus become one of the leading regions as far as the operation of new regional trains is concerned. In addition to the Fox trains, as the RegioFox trainsets are popularly called, passengers travelling in the Pardubice Region can look forward to the delivery of other modern trainsets in the form of altogether eight well-proven RegioPanter electric multiple units in the coming years.
“Passengers between Pardubice and Havlíčkův Brod have already been enjoying journeys on the board of modern RegioFox trainsets for several weeks, with all the comforts of air conditioning, Wi-Fi internet or sockets available for charging their travel electronics. This way we are now bringing a travel experience to the regional railway lines which a few years ago was reserved only for some long-distance trains. This is also clear evidence of how much the rolling stock of České dráhy has changed recently,” says Michal Krapinec, Chairman of the Board of Directors of and Director General of České dráhy, in his comments on the new RegioFox trainsets, pointing out: “However, there are often things on new trains which passengers do not notice at first glance, but are all the more important. For example, all RegioFox trainsets are equipped with the on-board European Train Control System (ETCS) units. This means that we invest not only in the comfort of our passengers, but also in their safety.”
The renewal of railway vehicles has long been one of the priorities of the Pardubice Region in terms of railway transport services ordered by the Regional Authority. “On the railway line between Pardubice and Havlíčkův Brod, but also between Žďárec u Skutče and Svitavy, the deployment of the RegioFox diesel multiple units brings us to the level of the 21st century in terms of railway vehicles. In total, we have ordered seven RegioFox trainsets from České dráhy for CZK 665 million. I firmly believe that soon not only the 810 Class railcars, but also the 814 Class RegioNova trainsets, will become a matter of the past within the framework of normal railway transport operation and that we will remember them only during nostalgic journeys or during emergencies and outages of more modern vehicles,” says Martin Netolický, Chairman of the Council of the Regional Authority of the Pardubice Region.
The trainsets of the 814 Class known as RegioNova will be transferred to other lines in the region for the time being with the acquisition of the new RegioFox trainsets. “Thanks to the deployment of the RegioFox trainsets, we will have the 814 Class RegioNova trains available for operation on other railway lines and now we plan to use them on the Přelouč – Heřmanův Městec and Chrudim – Moravany – Holice railway lines. However, these vehicles will be replaced in the future as well. Nevertheless, for the time being they will help us in other parts of the region,” says Michal Kortyš, Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Regional Authority of the Pardubice Region in Charge of Transport, explaining this transfer project. “The deployment of the new vehicles is clearly another step towards being able to offer our passengers comfortable carriages on our regional railway lines, which is certainly one of the reasons for preferring public transport,” stresses Michal Kortyš.
“Thanks to the fact that we started the project of training for our employees in the Pardubice Region already in spring, at that time with the use of a borrowed unit from the Central Bohemian Region, we shortened the time between the handover of the new trains and their deployment into regular operation to a minimum, and therefore the first Pardubice units could be into service already at the end of June,” says Jiří Ješeta, Member of the Board of Directors and Deputy Director General of ČD for Passenger Transport. “The deployment of seven new RegioFox trainsets means more than eight hundred new seats for passengers. Every day the Pardubice Fox trains travel altogether almost 2,700 kilometres,” adds Mr. Ješeta.
The RegioFox diesel multiple units are wheelchair accessible, air-conditioned trains equipped with a wide range of services for comfortable travelling to work, school or leisure activities. On-board Wi-Fi network, power sockets and USB connectors for charging travel electronics, compartments for large luggage including prams and bicycles or an audiovisual information system are all standard features there. The trains are equipped with Rolls-Royce engines capable of using the latest generation of environment-friendly HVO fuels, making them ones of the most environment-friendly diesel trains in Europe.
České dráhy has ordered a total of 106 RegioFox units from the Poland-based company “PESA”. After their delivery from the manufacturer, they are gradually being put into operation on railway lines not only in the Pardubice Region, but also in the Hradec Králové and South Bohemian Regions, in Vysočina (the Highlands Region), in Prague and in the Central Bohemian Region.
Information about the “RegioFox” unit of the 847 Class
- Seating capacity: 115 seats (including folding seats),
- 8 places for bicycles,
- 3 places for prams,
- 2 places for wheelchairs,
- 1 wheelchair-accessible toilet,
- Air conditioning system,
- Wi-Fi network,
- 230V+USB sockets,
- Audio-visual system, passenger counting system, security cameras,
- Length: 44.4 metres,
- Weight: 83 tonnes,
- Max. speed: 120 km/h,
- Power output: 750 kW,
- Number of engines: 2,
- Number of driven axles: 4,
- Power output transmission: hydrodynamic,
- Number of bogies: 3,
- Number of doors: 4.
Author: Tiskové oddělení Českých drah
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