České dráhy will purchase 182 passenger coaches
Czech national railway operator České dráhy intends to acquire 182 passenger coaches. They will serve the company’s express train connections on the home market and abroad. These coaches will be able to run at a speed of 230 kilometres per hour.
The decision to purchase the new rolling stock was approved by the Steering Committee of České dráhy at its meeting on 21 October. It is planned that 180 coaches will be combined into 20 nine-car push-pull sets similar to Railjet high-speed trains. The two remaining cars will be designed for the needs of the Czech rail infrastructure manager SŽDC. With the help of new coaches, České dráhy will replace the old rolling stock being operated since the mid-1980s and offer a better service to the customers including buffet cars, special places for passengers with reduced mobility, Wi-Fi, USB sockets, modern information system, etc.
“Thanks to the acquisition of 180 new passenger cars for express transportation, we will offer a high-quality service especially to our customers between Prague and Brno or Prague and Ústí nad Labem, as well as to passengers on international links to Berlin, Hamburg, Bratislava and Budapest. This will strengthen the competitiveness of the railways compared to individual motoring, buses and air transport and will attract more passengers. At the same time, the quality of the transportation on our national express and express lines will be improved,” noted Václav Nebeský, CEO of České dráhy.
Other improvements
Besides the passenger coaches, České dráhy also wants to buy new locomotives. The operator announced plans to acquire 65 electric locomotives. The procurement procedure will start in the coming future. Moreover, at the end of September, České dráhy purchases two multisystem locomotives of Taurus type from the Austrian railway company RTS Rail Transport Service. They will serve the international links from Prague to Warsaw and Vienna.
Also, České dráhy modernises its dining cars and converts them into buffet cars with first-class passenger sections. The first three coaches of this type have been introduced on the company’s service between Prague and Opava. 24 other dining cars will be retrofitted in the next years.
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