Czech Railways is pressing ahead with the renewal of its regional transport fleet. Dozens of trains consisting of conventional carriages and locomotives have now been replaced by modern RegioPanter electric trains. Their number has more than doubled in the last five years.
“In close cooperation with the regions, we have fundamentally revised the concept of regional trains on the electrified main lines. We have replaced the traditional train sets, made up of carriages and locomotives, with fully electric units. Their number has already reached 257, providing over 63,000 seats. The average age of these trains is now less than three years,” says Michal Krapinec, Chairman of the Board and CEO of ČD.
Over the past five years, the number of modern electric units operated by ČD has risen to 257 (+114%), while the number of carriages has increased to 738 (+115%). The seating capacity of these modern, air-conditioned trains has expanded by more than 30,000 to a total of 63,401 seats (+92%). If all the units were coupled together, the train would stretch approximately 19.5 kilometres.
Dozens of electric locomotives, primarily from the 163 and 242 series, along with hundreds of passenger carriages of various types, have been retired. These carriages, built between 1986 and 1991, have gradually been phased out, with the number of operational units reduced by more than 170 in the past five years.
The introduction of modern electric trains also brings advantages for operators. For instance, the intervals for scheduled maintenance are longer. While older locomotives and carriages required inspections every 10,000 kilometres, the latest RegioPanters only need checks after 25,000 kilometres.
However, maintaining complete electric train units requires modern maintenance facilities, where inspections and repairs can be carried out on entire trains simultaneously. New workshops have already been established in Brno-Maloměřice and Plzeň, with additional sites under construction in Cheb and Havlíčkův Brod. Further maintenance centres are also planned for České Budějovice and Olomouc. As part of its modernisation efforts, ČD intends to invest up to ten billion crowns in the construction and upgrading of maintenance and repair facilities in the coming years.
