České dráhy Took over 55 New Trains and Locomotives for Operation during the First Half of the Year

České dráhy took over for operation altogether 22 RegioPanter electric multiple units, 15 RegioFox diesel multiple units, 17 Vectron locomotives and the first ComfortJet unit in a transitional configuration in the first half of the year. The value of the new trains exceeds CZK 7 billion. A substantial part of this investment was organisationally arranged for by Czech companies and employed hundreds of Czechs in the prospective railway industry in Northern and Central Moravia, Western Bohemia and in other regions of the Czech Republic.

“On the basis of our contracts for new trains, we have promised a record-breaking replacement of older trains with new ones this year. Although suppliers are still struggling with some troubles, we have already put 55 brand-new units and locomotives into operation in the course of the first half of the year. In terms of conversion to individual vehicles or cells, this equates to 119 items and represents more than 7,000 seats on the board of new, mainly regional services,” says Michal Krapinec, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of České dráhy, adding: “For example, we have completed the process of replacement of electric trainsets in the Olomouc Region and put the fifty-year-old “Tornado” units out of operation there. Thanks to the approval of the RegioFox diesel multiple units, we were able not only to start taking over also new diesel units and to retire the 810 Class railcars from regular service in other regions, for example in the Pardubice Region, but we will also initiate the process of their cancellation on standby backup service, where they now replace Regionova sets and other types of railcars if necessary.”

Safety, quality and full comfort for customers and employees are the most important factors for České dráhy when putting its new trains into operation. That is why, for example, the takeover of the RegioFox diesel multiple units started with a delay of about one year only after their approval by the Rail Authority. This also means that the carrier will not take over vehicles featuring major deficiencies during the acceptance process in the future.

“In addition to regional trains, we are also changing locomotives and preparing for introduction of the ComfortJet trainsets. The new Siemens Vectron locomotives leased from the RSL leasing company will enable us to replace the 151 Class on the corridor from Prague to Ostrava and Žilina at the end of the year, and the 380 Class will end up on the Prague – Brno – Břeclav railway line. The traffic operation under the ETCS supervision will be mandatory on these railway lines. Older locomotives will be gradually phased out and the 380 Class will be moved to the railway line from Prague to South Bohemia,” states Jiří Ješeta, Member of the Board of Directors and Deputy Director General for Passenger Transport, commenting the locomotive renewal process.

The first ComfortJet unit, which is deployed on the route from Prague to Bohumín, has also been put into trial operation. In view of the complexity and comprehensiveness of the whole trainset, which is literally full of electronics, its trial operation is now underway, together with fine-tuning of all functions of these trainsets, including cooperation with locomotives. Before their operation is extended with other trainsets and railway lines, the carrier wants to be absolutely sure that everything is working as it should, offering passengers the planned level of comfort and employees a high-quality workplace.

České dráhy is the largest passenger carrier in the Czech Republic. It dispatches about 2.5 million trains a year, covering more than 116 million kilometres. Passengers travel more than 8 billion kilometres with them on a yearly basis. The carrier “České dráhy” operates about 2,000 traction vehicles and more than 1,600 passenger carriages.