České dráhy to Invest More than CZK 12 Billion in the Development of Maintenance and Servicing of Its Rolling Stock

České dráhy, the largest railway carrier in the Czech Republic, plans to invest more than CZK 12 billion in the development of its service facilities by 2031. More than CZK 6 billion will be invested in new repair halls and their major renovation projects. The construction of four completely new maintenance halls is planned and another six halls will be extended and modernised. More than one billion crowns will be spent on the construction of new sanitary tracks and the doubling of the track connection between the Prague South Maintenance Centre and the Správa železnic’s network. Approximately CZK 3.5 billion will go towards the renovation and establishment of stabling track systems, inspection channels, the establishment of a new underfloor lathe in Moravia for operation in the eastern part of the country, traction conversion projects and other construction works at maintenance centres all over the Czech Republic. Approximately CZK 1.5 billion will then be spent on the acquisition of machinery investments, such as hoists, mobile lifting platforms, high-voltage testing rooms, defectoscopy equipment and probes, etc.

“Servicing and care of the railway rolling stock is the third pillar of our business besides the passenger and freight transport. Our objective is to provide comprehensive care for our vehicles in cooperation with suitable partners and to offer operation maintenance as well as periodical renewals to other vehicle owners in the Czech Republic and abroad. We have already received our first orders for servicing vehicles at our service facilities. These include, for example, the electric units known as 'Moravia' of the South Moravian Region or we take care of diesel multiple units of several carriers in the Liberec region. We are interested in further extension and support of this business segment, and that is why we want to invest more than CZK 12 billion in its development by 2031,” says Michal Krapinec, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of České dráhy.

České dráhy currently operates approximately two thousand traction vehicles and almost 1,800 passenger carriages. Thanks to an extensive modernisation programme, which envisages capital expenditures in a volume more than CZK 160 billion over the next 10 years, a number of previously traditional vehicles will be replaced by new units. Other dozens to hundreds of vehicles in both passenger and freight transport are operated in the Czech Republic by other carriers.

“New vehicles need modern maintenance facilities. That is why, with the renewal of trains, we need to invest in service facilities and technologies which will make it possible for us to take full advantage of the characteristics of their design, such as a component exchange system or remote diagnostics and transmission of fault data between the vehicles and the depot. We must also adapt to the different nature of vehicles and the organisation of their operation activities. Individual passenger carriages are replaced by complete units, and the maintenance procedure for train sets made up of conventional vehicles is also gradually being replaced by procedures which are common just to complete units. We will be working less and less with individual carriages, for which we could have used the original halls or rotunda systems. We will now need more long through-pass halls in which we can do servicing inspections as well as major repairs on the whole multiple-carriage unit at once,” points out Michal Kraus, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Deputy Director General of ČD for Service.

Better background facilities for employees as well as environmental care

České dráhy will focus on the construction of new halls where there is no suitable space for modernisation. In locations which are already fitted with suitable halls, they will be extensively modernised and extended to meet current operational needs. Significant capital expenditures will also be directed towards the construction and modernisation of vehicle washing facilities, sanitary tracks and technological facilities.

“All capital expenditures aimed at service facilities will be characterised by a strict environmental protection policy and carbon neutrality trends. They will be equipped with photovoltaic cells and the water management system will use rainwater. For the washing lines, we count on water recycling technology thanks to which our washing lines will be water-friendly. The appropriate design of the buildings will reduce heat leakage and we will use heat pumps to heat them. The aim of České dráhy is to obtain energy-efficient repair halls with low operating costs and high benefits for the protection of our environment and climate. At the same time, they will offer our employees well-equipped workplaces and modern social facilities,” adds Michal Kraus, introducing some common elements of the service facilities under preparation.

In addition to construction capital expenditures, investments in machinery equipment and technology of approximately CZK 1.5 billion are planned for the period from 2024 to 2031. These capex projects include the conversion of the power supply system from 3 kV DC to 25 kV 50 Hz AC, the construction of a high-voltage testing facility in Bohumín and modernisation of such a facility in Prague, the acquisition of modern hoists and mobile platforms for access to equipment on vehicle roofs, wheel measuring instruments and defectoscopy equipment, e.g. special probes and other equipment.

The construction of a new maintenance hall in Cheb will start already in May this year, the renovation of the entrance group of the Prague South Maintenance Centre has already started and the modernisation of the washing line technology should start in the same place by the end of the year. An extension of the hall in Šumperk is in the implementation phase and the construction of a new hall in Havlíčkův Brod should also start this year.

Some of the new facilities have already been put into operation. For example, a modern maintenance hall in Brno-Maloměřice was completed in 2021, a hall in Pilsen was completed in 2022 and a new railway washing line was completed in Havlíčkův Brod in 2023.