The Railway Research Institute subsidiary of Czech Railways formally marked the completion of a KC60m modernisation of a 5 km section of its Cerhenice test track on December 13. Track on the larger of the test site's two loops has been upgraded to permit conventional trains to run at 210 km/h and tilting vehicles to reach 230 km/h.
As part of the inauguration of the upgraded track, a CD Pendolino attained a speed of 211 km/h.
Originally opened in 1963, the ZZO facility near Velim, 52 km east of Praha, has two loops of 13 km and 4 km. Each has various types of signalling, and can be fed at 3 kV and 1·5 kV DC, and 25 kV 50 Hz and 15 kV 16 2/3 Hz AC, to represent the four major overhead electrification systems in Europe.
The site is also equipped to undertake wide range of indoor or static trials.
