České dráhy to Simplify On-Line Purchase of Tickets for Night Trains

The purchase of tickets for night trains is newly much clearer in the “Můj vlak” (“My Train”) application and in the E-shop operated by České dráhy. In its online sales channels, České dráhy has modified the display of individual ticket variants which passengers can purchase for sleeper and couchette trains. The entire process of purchasing tickets and reservations is now therefore markedly simpler and faster.

During the search for a suitable night train service, passengers will now be newly able to see, already in the first step of the purchase procedure, whether there is free capacity in sleepers or couchette cars. The remaining number of seats, beds and couchettes is also displayed, on a separate basis, including the lowest currently available price of the ticket or reservation for the services offered by the carrier. When continuing their purchase procedure, passengers can then choose from the offer of available accommodation services for which the number of remaining places available and the ticket price including the corresponding reservation fee are displayed as well.

As far as couchette cars are concerned, passengers can therefore simply choose whether they wish to travel in a four-berth or six-berth compartment. Concerning sleepers, they can now choose from single, double or T3 (three-bed compartment) categories, and decide between regular (with a washbasin) compartment or deluxe design (with a private toilet and a shower).

In the previous settings of the online sales channels, passengers were only shown the availability and price for a particular accommodation service after the entering of specific parameters. In the new configuration, passengers can see all available options together at once, and therefore they can easily choose which one suits them best.

Nevertheless, the adjustments to the sales system in the online channels do not end with these modifications. This innovation will be followed by further simplification of the purchase of a passenger car place on an automobile train. At the same time, České dráhy prepares further improvements which will make it even easier to buy a ticket or obtain the information necessary for a train journey.

The supplier of the technical solution for on-line check-in procedures at České dráhy is the Chaps company from the ČD – Informační systémy Group.

České dráhy operates, in cooperation with foreign carriers within the framework of the ČD Night service, a number of direct night services. This offer usually involves the possibility of travelling in sleepers and couchette cars, and in selected routes also in passenger carriages with seating places. From Prague, there are direct night services, for example to Zurich via Innsbruck and Basel, to Krakow and Warsaw, to Poprad and Košice and to Budapest. It is also possible to use the service of transportation of passenger cars with automobile trains from Prague to Poprad and Košice.

In the ČD E-shop you can buy tickets for European Sleeper night trains as well

České dráhy has extended its offer of tickets and reservation services to include the sale of tickets and reservations for the private night train service project known as European Sleeper. Tickets and reservations for travels from Prague to Amsterdam or Brussels can now be purchased at the carrier's international ticket offices, in its E-shop and in the My Train application on your mobile phone as well.

The prices, reservations and any other terms and conditions for refunds or exercising the rights under the contract of carriage are subject to the European Sleeper company’s tariffs and contractual terms and conditions. The night service offers seating places, as well as places in sleepers and couchette cars with various numbers of places in the compartment. Tickets and reservations can be purchased up to 3 months before the train departs. When checking in and selling a ticket, the operator requires the stating of passenger contact details, i.e. their first name(s), surname, e-mail address and telephone number.

The European Sleeper train departs from the Praha hl.n. railway station at 18:04 hours on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and arrives at Brussels the following day at 10:27 hours. Concerning its return journey from Brussels, it departs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 19:22 hours. In the Czech Republic, passengers can also get off and on in Ústí nad Labem or Děčín, and in the Netherlands and Belgium, for example in Antwerp, Rotterdam or Amsterdam.

More detailed terms and conditions of carriage can be found on the carrier's website www.europeansleeper.eu.