The Largest Train Renewal in History Starting in the Hradec Králové Region. Forty New Units for CZK 4 Billion to Be Deployed on Local Railway Lines

Travelling by regional trains in the quality and with the service levels of trans-European express trains will be available to both residents living in and visitors coming to the Hradec Králové Region. The trainsets will offer air conditioning, on-board Wi-Fi network, 230 V and USB sockets for charging travel electronics, large spaces for prams and bicycles, reading lamps for individual lighting, folding tables, as well as audiovisual information systems. Forty brand-new trains worth CZK 4 billion are to run on the Region's railways. České dráhy was only able to invest in the new trains thanks to the support of the Hradec Králové Region and the conclusion of a long-term contract to provide transport services in the Region.

“We were faced with the decision of whether to further develop or rather restrict passenger train transport services in the Region a few years ago. We have decided for its development, both in terms of the number of kilometres ordered and in terms of the quality of services offered to passengers. The new contract made with České dráhy in 2021 includes an agreement to renew 70% of the rolling stock used on the railway network. For many years, our Region has not participated in acquisition of new trains, and therefore I am very pleased to see that today we can present the first of 40 modern units which are to be deployed on our regional lines within two years. We already have 10% more passengers travelling by train in our Region than before the covid pandemic, and we want to further motivate them and to make their journeys more comfortable and safer. We try to satisfy the needs of our passengers – we are providing them with more information, we try to extend our services and now we will have one of the most modern rolling stock systems operating in the entire Czech Republic,” said Martin Červíček, Chairman of the Council of the Hradec Králové Region.

“Today's presentation and handover of the first RegioPanter for the Hradec Králové Region means the beginning of the largest train exchange in the history of the Region. This year we will put here into operation seven electric trainsets, 16 diesel multiple units, and in the following years we will add more RegioFox trainsets. In total, 84 individual carriages will offer passengers more than 5,000 seats in modern, air-conditioned and wheelchair-accessible trains with Wi-Fi connection or the ability to recharge travel electronics. If in the future we were to put all the new trains in a row, they would form a two-kilometre-long trainset from the Hradec Králové main railway station to the stop in Kukleny,” adds Jiří Ješeta, Member of the Board of Directors of České dráhy and Deputy Director General for Passenger Transport.

“The arrival of seven new RegioPanter units to the Hradec Králové Region represents a significant support for railway transport development in the Region. These units in two-carriage and three-carriage configurations are designed to provide passengers with greater comfort as well as increased safety. RegioPanters are very popular, with about 300 units produced or ordered so far. This is also proof of the fact that these are reliable machines which are the basis of the regional railway network not only in many parts of the Czech Republic but also in many European countries,” says Tomáš Ignačák, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of the CZ&SK and Central East Regions at the Škoda Group.

With Panthers to Chlumec and Týniště, with Foxes to the north of the Region

This year, České dráhy will put into operation 3 two-carriage and 4 three-carriage RegioPanter units on the railway lines of the Hradec Králové Region. They will serve passenger train connections on the railway lines from the Capital City of the Region to Chlumec nad Cidlinou and Týniště nad Orlicí. The modern trains will replace the classical trainsets with locomotives and unpopular passenger carriages generally nicknamed “Honeckers” after the former leader of East Germany, from where the carriages were imported in the early 1990s.

The trains operated by RegioPanters are expected to cover about half a million kilometres a year on these two railway lines.

This year, another new type of trains will also head to the lines in the Region, namely the popular RegioFox trainsets. The “Foxes” will serve non-electrified lines and will replace mainly the rail cars from the late 1960s and early 1970s, which are sometimes nicknamed “Vindobonas” after their original deployment or “Hydra” after the hydrodynamic power transmission, and partly also the Regionova diesel units. There will be 33 new diesel multiple units operating in the Region.

The RegioFox trainsets will gradually take over operation on such railway lines as Kolín – Chlumec nad Cidlinou – Stará Paka – Trutnov, Hradec Králové – Letohrad, Choceň – Týniště nad Orlicí – Náchod – Hronov, Hradec Králové – Meziměstí – Broumov and Hradec Králové – Trutnov – Svoboda nad Úpou.

The trains operated by the RegioFox units should travel approximately 2 million kilometres per year in the Hradec Králové Region.

Advantages of the modern RegioPanter and RegioFox trains

• Modern bright and well-arranged air-conditioned interior with ergonomically designed upholstered seats according to requirements of the Regional Authorities in the 2nd carriage class and possibly in the 1st carriage class as well;
• Air-conditioning system
• Wheelchair-accessible boarding with the vehicle floor at the level of modern platforms, such as those at Hradec Králové hl.n., Týniště nad Orlicí, Jaroměř, Náchod and other railway stations and stops, without the necessity of climbing stairs as it is the case of older trains;
• An additional pull-out step facilitates boarding at stops with lower platforms;
• The trainsets are equipped with a platform for wheelchair passengers to overbridge the space between the boarding platform and the vehicle floor or to overcome the different heights of the platform and vehicle floor;
• Modern safe sliding doors operated by push buttons, centrally closed and locked before the train departs, boarding and alighting being allowed in a safe way only on the side of the platform;
• For the blind and partially sighted passengers, the doors of the train unit are equipped with a remote door control system operated by a blind radio and supplemented with an acoustic beacon; the doors are equipped with an audiovisual warning signals before closing and have safety features against pinching people;
• For the blind and partially sighted passengers, the trainset interior will be equipped with information labels in Braille and button in a haptic design as well;
• A spacious wheelchair-accessible toilet with a closed system and equipped with a folding table for changing baby nappies;
• Electrical 230 V sockets and USB ports for powering portable electronics, for example mobile phones, tablets, etc.;
• In the electric multiple units, high-performance power sources for charging electric wheelchairs or electric bicycles;
• Tilting or folding tables according to the seat layout arrangement;
• In the case of the electric multiple units, individual reading lights for individual seats;
• Sufficiently large space to accommodate wheelchair passengers, pram placement, bicycles and other large luggage;
• A modern audiovisual information system providing information about the train journey and stops to all passengers, including blind, partially sighted or deaf people.

Modern trains of the Hradec Králové Region in numbers

Three-carriage RegioPanter of the 640.2 class

• Seating capacity: 234 seats
• Vehicle length: 79.4 metres
• Weight: 151 tonnes
• Max. speed: 160 km/h
• Power output: 2,040 kW
• Power supply systems: 3 kV DC and 25 kV 50 Hz AC
• Number of motors: 6
• Number of bogies: 6
• Number of doors: 12
• Number of train units in the Region: 4

Two-carriage RegioPanter of the 650.2 class

• Seating capacity: 140 seats
• Vehicle length: 52.9 metres
• Weight: 105 tonnes
• Max. speed: 160 km/h
• Power output: 1,360 kW
• Power supply systems: 3 kV DC and 25 kV 50 Hz AC
• Number of motors: 4
• Number of bogies: 4
• Number of doors: 8
• Number of train units in the Region: 3

RegioFox of the 847 class

• Seating capacity: 115 seats (including tilting seats)
• Vehicle length: 44.4 metres
• Weight: 83 tonnes
• Max. speed: 120 km/h
• Power output: 750 kW
• Number of engines: 2
• Power transmission: hydrodynamic
• Number of bogies: 3
• Number of doors: 4
• Number of train units in the Region: 33