UPGRADING of the 371 km Praha - Nürnberg corridor is to be completed by 2002, under the terms of an accord signed in the Czech capital on July 13. CD General Manager Dalibor Zeleny and DB Chairman Johannes Ludewig agreed to electrify and resignal the route and modify the alignment for tilt train operation. Patronage is growing steadily, but at present the fastest train is the EuroCity Karlstejn which takes 5h 8min at an average of just 72·3 km/h.
CD’s section is mostly electrified, and the 11 km gap between Cheb and the border at Pomezí will be wired at 25 kV 50 Hz by the end of next year (RG 10.98 p640). The 150 km from Nürnberg to Schirdling via Pegnitz and Marktredwitz is to be wired at 15 kV 162/3 Hz by 2002.
- Czech private operator Viamont and Germany’s Vogtlandbahn are to reopen the cross-border Kraslice - Klingenthal branch next May. Viamont has been running between Sokolov and Kraslice since January 1998, and will shortly reopen to Hranicn
