Michal Krapinec, Chairman & Director General of Czech national operator České Dráhy, unveils his strategy for developing domestic and international passenger services to Toma Bačić.
Earlier this year, incumbent Czech operator České Dráhy’s first set of ComfortJet inter-city coaches entered revenue service on the 366 km Praha – Bohumín route. After the debut on June 12, trains were introduced on the cross-border Praha – Berlin service at the end of September, while a pair of ComfortJet sets is now also being used between the Czech capital and Košice is Slovakia. More international services will be operated with the trains as ČD takes delivery of more vehicles from manufacturer Siemens Mobility.
A fleet of 180 ComfortJet coaches had been ordered in April 2021 as part of a major rolling stock updating programme. ČD’s Chairman & Director General Michal Krapinec believes that ‘investment in rolling stock is the key to offering high quality services that attract customers ― that is their main purpose. At the same time, investment is essential to maintain the competitiveness of rail transport as a whole’, he continues.
‘The backbone of our domestic long-distance services forms an integral part of the European international network, which we operate with partners such as Deutsche Bahn and ÖBB. By renewing our fleet, we improve quality for both domestic and international passengers. And at the same time, this helps us fulfil commitments to enhance long-distance transport in the Czech Republic.’
The ComfortJet fleet is designed for push-pull operation and will be marshalled into 20 nine-car sets, each seating 555 passengers. Delivery of the fleet continues a sustained programme of investment in ČD’s long-distance rolling stock which began with a small batch of Pendolino tilting trains in 2003.
‘With the ComfortJet trainsets, we aim to offer a significant improvement in comfort and a higher standard of travel, as well as more capacity’, says Krapinec, ČD considers international long-distance transport ‘as an area which is very promising, with significant potential for further growth, and these trainsets will be among the best in class in terms of what European railways offer their customers.’
The concept of unpowered push-pull trainsets ‘is currently the optimal solution for a conventional network with speeds up to 230 km/h’, Krapinec notes. Although the Czech Republic currently has no routes cleared for speeds higher than 160 km/h, the new trains are geared for this in the future. ‘We consider it to be important, as 230 km/h will be used abroad and subsequently on our own network, specifically on the first sections of our planned high speed routes from Brno east to Prerov and south to Breclav’, he asserts.
‘We are currently preparing to expand direct services between Praha, Berlin and København, in co-operation with DB and Danish national operator DSB. Similarly, we want to extend selected services from Graz to Villach in co-operation with ÖBB after completion of the Koralmbahn. And we should not forget the important route to Bratislava and Budapest, where we also wish to improve service quality in partnership with Slovakian and Hungarian national operators ZSSK and MÁV.
‘The ComfortJet units constitute the largest investment in long-distance passenger rolling stock in the history of ČD as an independent operator’, Krapinec affirms. ‘In addition to these and the Railjet and Interjet units, we have commissioned 50 Siemens Vectron locomotives able to run at 230 km/h. Nor do our acquisitions end there. We are preparing to acquire additional electric units for long-distance routes and conventional stock for the express segment.’
‘I dare to say we are at the top in Europe in terms of international transport offers’
Krapinec explains that the requirements of the contracting authority and the outcome of the tendering process ‘will be decisive as most express services in the Czech Republic are run under public service obligations, which means that the new trains must meet the specifications of the contracting authority’.
He also flags up plans to acquire high speed rolling stock in the longer term, but for the moment ‘we are monitoring the terrain and watching further developments in this field’.
In terms of international policy, Krapinec wants ‘to continue moving forward using the tested concept of inter-state co-operation, operating the ComfortJet trains in conjunction with DB and DSB. Co-operation is the model of greatest benefit to EU citizens, as it can facilitate train travel across the whole of Europe from north to south. Thanks to connecting services and through ticketing, passengers will easily be able to continue north from København; in the other direction the trains will link Hamburg, Berlin and Praha to Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary or even to the Balkans. That’s one side of the story.’
Complexity
Krapinec is keen to highlight the obstacles that stand in the way of operating international trains across Europe. ‘The other side of the story’, he continues, ’is the complexity of the whole process of acquisition’ and ‘the availability and predictability of infrastructure parameters’. While ‘Europe wants to travel internationally, to return to pan-European connections, nobody wants to see the time-consuming and costly nature of the approval process for a European train such as ComfortJet. This process is becoming more and more difficult and tedious.’
Not only that, but ‘at the same time the availability of infrastructure capacity is becoming increasingly complicated on traditional routes. We understand the need to modernise and build new tracks, but the level of uncertainty in the annual allocation of routes, particularly in Germany, is becoming increasingly challenging. You can have new trains and amazing projects with great potential, but unless there is long-term sustainable and predictable stability in terms of infrastructure, rail transport will struggle to meet expectations.’
Despite these issues, in 2023 ČD carried 164∙4 million passengers, with traffic on international routes increasing in some cases by more than 40% after the deployment of ČD’s and ÖBB’s Railjets.
Krapinec says that ‘transport on international routes between the Czech Republic and Slovakia is traditionally very strong. This is rooted in the historical context arising from the existence of Czechoslovakia, during which time many mixed Czech-Slovak families were created.’
Dynamic demand
Demand for travel between the Czech Republic and Poland ‘has also developed dynamically, which is reflected in the planned launch with PKP IC in December 2024 of Baltic Express services on the Praha – Wroclaw – Gdansk – Gdynia route’. Running four times a day in each direction, the service will be targeted at both tourist and business travel. Krapinec adds that ‘we are also trying to develop the current offer on the Praha – Warsaw and Praha – Krakow – Przemyśl routes with a connection to Ukraine’.
ČD is also working with other national operators to develop better services on routes such as Wien – Warszawa, Budapest – Bratislava – Warszawa and Wien – Krakow. Krapinec points to the launch in December 2023 of a direct service from Wroclaw to Ostrava and Wien. ‘The improvement of infrastructure parameters in Poland, shorter travel times and closer co-operation on ticketing clearly contribute to the increasing attractiveness of these connections.’
Krapinec adds proudly that ‘I dare to say that we are at the top in the European context in terms of international transport offers, and in this way we have been effective in meeting European policy objectives in international long-distance transport for the past 10 years’.
Austrian links
On June 24 a special train ran to mark a decade of Railjet services between Wiener Neustadt, Wien and Praha. Krapinec describes ÖBB as ‘our traditional partner in international transport between the Czech Republic and Austria’, suggesting that 10 years of co-operation with Railjet services on the Praha – Wien – Graz route had been ‘very successful’.
From December 2025, again working with ÖBB, ČD plans to extend selected services from Praha to Klagenfurt and Villach after opening of the Koralmbahn. Krapinec wants to continue developing the connection from Wien via the Czech Republic to Poland, and ‘we see good opportunities on the Praha – Linz route.’ Trains have been accelerated thanks to modernisation work between Praha and České Budějovice, providing faster links to the Alpine region and southern Europe.
Regional enhancements funded
ČD is also spending heavily on modernising its regional fleet. Krapinec confirms that ‘in the next decade, we are planning to invest about KC160bn in new trains. Just this year, we have invested KC18∙7bn in fleet renewal. This is financed from a combination of sources, which is common practice. Aside from our own resources, we use bonds issued on the Czech and European markets as well as bank loans and we work with the European Investment Bank and other financial institutions.
‘A portion of the funds for new trains operated under PSOs is provided by Eurofima, and another part of the renewal programme is funded through leasing, for example the Siemens Vectron locomotive fleet.’
Krapinec emphasises that ČD works closely with regional contracting authorities, who are responsible for commissioning and operation of new fleets in line with PSO commitments. He highlights a pioneering venture by the Moravskoslezský region to deploy battery-electric trainsets. ‘This is a region which has been burdened by industrial production, mines, steelworks and coking plants. So it is very interested in introducing green transport.’
‘In the next decade, we are planning to invest about KC160bn in new trains’
Noting that ‘battery-electric trainsets will be able to switch seamlessly from electrified to unelectrified routes’, Krapinec says that ‘the introduction of direct trains will make journeys between the centre of the region and more rural areas much easier. With no need to change trains, services will be more attractive and the comfort level will increase significantly.’
Škoda Group is due to supply the first four RegioPanter BEMUs by the end of the year, and Krapinec points to a contract signed at the Rail Business Days trade fair in Ostrava on June 11 covering 15 additional Regio 140 BEMUs; these are due to enter service from 2026. ‘We are actively involved in discussions with contracting authorities and infrastructure managers regarding electrification and the deployment of electric or battery-electric vehicles in various regions. We anticipate the need to purchase an additional 150 to 200 vehicles combining electric traction and alternative drives over the next five to 10 years.’
Competition
For some years now, ČD has faced competition on its primary inter-city routes. ‘The Czech Republic has one of the most open passenger rail markets in Europe’, asserts Krapinec. ‘This is especially the case on the Praha – Ostrava route, where all direct long-distance services run by ČD, RegioJet and Leo Express operate on a commercial basis.’
Krapinec concedes that ‘after the entry of private carriers into the market we naturally lost a portion of our passengers, but on the other hand the choice of connections and new onboard services helped win customers to rail who would have previously opted for other modes’. ČD’s market share on the Praha – Ostrava route ‘has been stable for a number of years, and we still offer the fastest and most comfortable connections operated by the Pendolino units. We are also the only carrier on this route to offer high quality gastronomy in restaurant cars, which are very popular among our passengers.
‘I must admit that competition motivated us to launch better onboard services and to introduce dynamic changes to ticketing, which have received positive feedback from our customers.’
It was competition that prompted ČD to offer refunds on domestic tickets with no surcharge up to 15 min before departure and the provision of information about changes or journey disruption when tickets are purchased online. ‘These innovations were made possible by major investment in digital services and electronic ticketing. For example, the Můj vlak app is the best-rated product in its field in the Czech Republic and has won an award in an international competition’, Krapinec says proudly.
Competition has not always been amicable. In April this year, RegioJet and ČD announced that they had reached agreement to terminate a dispute known as the Falcon case. RegioJet had sought damages of up to KC717m, alleging that ČD had sought to undermine competition from commercially run trains on the busy route from Praha to Ostrava. The case alleged that ČD had been offering below-cost prices between September 26 2011 and April 30 2014. The settlement came after investigations by the European Commission and Czech anti-trust authority ÚOHS ― both found no evidence that competition rules had been breached.
More recently, in October the European Commission announced it would fine the Czech and Austrian national train operators a total of €48·7m for colluding to prevent RegioJet from acquiring second-hand rolling stock to support its growth in the Czech Republic and on the Praha – Wien route. ČD has said it intends to continue its defence against the ruling in Brussels.
