České dráhy Has Signed a Contract for the Construction of a New Repair Hall in Havlíčkův Brod

České dráhy has signed a contract with the companies "Chládek a Tintěra Havlíčkův Brod, a. s.", and "TSS GRADE, a. s.", for the construction of a new repair hall in the depot of rolling stock in Havlíčkův Brod for a contractual price of more than CZK 235 million, VAT exclusive. The new hall will serve primarily to ensure high-quality servicing of the new complete RegioPanter and RegioFox units. This is the next step in the strategy of modernisation of the repair facilities of the national carrier, which is focused on modernisation of the service facilities and improvement of the quality of servicing of rolling stock.

“Significant capital expenditures in the acquisition of modern trains are hand in hand linked with new capital investments in service facilities where we will keep these trains in top condition for passengers. That is why we need more long through-pass halls where we can perform service inspections as well as major repairs on an entire multi-carriage unit at once. We will start building just such a new hall in the autumn at the Havlíčkův Brod depot, which serves also as a home station to modern RegioPanter and RegioFox regional units. The new hall will allow us to repair them faster and return them to operation for passengers more quickly,” says Michal Kraus, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Deputy Director General of ČD for Servicing.

The through-pass double-track maintenance hall will have a total length of 67 metres. It will be equipped with a double-girder overhead crane with a load bearing capacity of up to 12.5 tonnes, service ducts, viewing platforms for easy access to the roof of the train set and visual inspection of the entire train. Electromechanical foot lifts for lifting the rolling stock, as well as an exhaust extraction system, will also be an integral part of the hall equipment. In the side extension of the hall, there will be, for example, facilities for employees or storage space.

“The new hall will be used for comprehensive operational treatment of vehicles and for so-called corrective maintenance, i.e. repairs of damaged parts and components of various nature. This includes appropriate periodic inspections, e.g. of bogies, doors, braking systems, as well as repairs, e.g. when doors, air-conditioning and other parts of trains are defective,” adds Martin Elstner, Director of the Regional Maintenance Centre "East", under which the service facility in Havlíčkův Brod falls.

The depot in Havlíčkův Brod serves for train connections throughout the entire Vysočina (Highlands) Region and also in neighbouring regions, e.g. in Pardubice, Central Bohemian or South Moravian Regions. The technicians working here take care not only of the new 847 RegioFox diesel multiple units, but also of the 650 RegioPanter electric multiple units, 844 RegioShark diesel multiple units and 841 RegioSpider diesel multiple units.

Last year, České dráhy also opened a new rolling stock washing line in the depot in Havlíčkův Brod.

České dráhy will continue to modernise its servicing infrastructure also at other locations in the Czech Republic. These include in particular the construction of maintenance halls, washing lines or sanitary tracks. “We are planning other similar buildings for example in České Budějovice or Olomouc. In May we also started the construction of a new repair hall at the Maintenance Centre in Cheb,” closes the Deputy Director General Kraus.

České dráhy plans to invest more than CZK 12 billion in the development of its service facilities by 2031. During this period, four new maintenance halls will be built and six more halls will be extended and modernised. Billions of crowns will also be invested in new rolling stock washing lines, sanitary tracks for the cleaning of trainsets, modern machinery equipment and new technologies, such as underfloor wheel lathes, non-destructive defectoscopy equipment or the digitisation of maintenance processes.