PASSENGER services are operating at up to 200km/h in the Czech Republic for the first time, with the deployment by Czech Railways (ČD) of class 680 tilting trains on the main line between Prague and České Budějovice in southern Bohemia, which has been upgraded and resignalled with ETCS.
Tilting trains began operating at up to 200km/h on the Votice - Sudoměřice and Soběslav - sections of the line on September 1, while conventional rolling stock remains limited to 160km/h. The main line between Prague and České Budějovice has been comprehensively upgraded over the last decade, including sections of new line in tunnel to avoid curves where work is still ongoing.
The fastest journey time over the 164km from Prague to České Budějovice has been cut to 1h 35min, while in the opposite direction the journey time is 5 minutes shorter. The journey time for conventional Eurocity services is 1h 39min.
Pendolino service IC 590 leaves České Budějovice at 05.59 and arrives in Prague main station at 07.29. Return working IC 591 departs from Prague at 20.27 to arrive in České Budějovice at 22.02.
“Thanks to the deployment of fast Pendolino trains and infrastructure modifications it has been possible to shorten journey times and increase passenger comfort,” says Czech transport minister, Martin Kupka.
“This is a significant step forward for Czech railways, laying the foundations for higher speeds on future high-speed lines, on which Czech trains will be running at speeds of up to 320km/h.”
“I see the acceleration of services and the overall reduction of journey times as one of the key tools in strengthening the competitiveness of rail,” says ČD board chairman and CEO, Michal Krapinec.
“I believe that we will continue intensively with the trend of further acceleration,” Krapinec says. “Our trains are ready for this challenge. The state-of-the-art ComfortJet trains, together with high-speed Vectron locomotives, are capable of reaching speeds of up to 230km/h.”
