CZECH REPBLIC: National operator ČD has awarded a consortium of Škoda Transportation and Škoda Vagonka firm orders for 48 additional RegioPanter 3 kV DC/25 kV 50 Hz dual-voltage regional EMUs.
The orders confirmed on December 11 comprise
- 19 two-car units with 140 seats, procured under a KC6bn framework contract for up to 50 EMUs agreed in March 2019 of which 31 trains had already been ordered;
- 29 three-car units with 240 seats as the first order from a new KC9·6bn framework contract for up to 60 EMUs signed in November 2020.
In late November, tests started at the VUZ Velim test centre of the first Class 650.2 two-car RegioPanter EMU from the March 2019 contract for an initial 31.
Four of these units are to be deployed on the Plzeň – Cheb – Karlovy Vary line from mid-2021, to be followed by 11 for the Klatovy – Plzeň – Beroun route, six for the Vysočina region and 10 for the Jihočeský region.
The newly-ordered two-car units will be put into operation in the Olomouc, Moravskoslezský and Jihočeský regions during 2023-24.
The first three-car units will emerge in early 2023. The first two of them, ordered with EU co-funding, will be deployed on the Ostrava – Opava line in Moravskoslezský, to be followed by 27 units for the Kouty nad Desnou – Šumperk – Zábřeh na Moravě – Olomouc – Nezamyslice, Olomouc – Vsetín and Olomouc – Uničov – Šumperk lines in Olomouc region in 2023–24.
The 160 km/h low-floor EMUs will be equipped with ETCS, air-conditioning, CCTV, LCD audio-visual passenger information systems with Braille signage, 230 V and USB sockets and wi-fi. The PRM-compliant interior will offer multi-purpose spaces for wheelchairs and pushchairs, bicycles or large luggages.
The recent order will take the number of ČD’s RegioPanters to 130 units. ČD’s existing fleet of Škoda Type 7Ev EMUs now totals 51, which include 12 Class 440 three-car units for 3 kV DC, which are now being converted to dual-voltage, eight Class 640 three-car dual-voltage and 17 Class 650 two-car dual-voltage units. There are also four Class 660 three-car and 10 Class 661 five-car InterPanter EMUs for long-distance services.
Škoda has also an order from the government of Jihomoravský region for 31 four-car and 6 two-car RegioPanters, which were ordered in December 2019 for KC6·65bn using EU co-funding. Production has started for delivery in 2021-22, with a 30-year full service maintenance package. To be branded Moravia, these units will be used on Brno suburban routes S2 Křenovice – Brno – Blansko – Březová nad Svitavou and S3 Vlkov u Tišnova – Tišnov – Brno – Vranovice – Břeclav.
Jihomoravský is the first Czech region to purchase its own trains. They will be initially leased to ČD and then to an as-yet-to-be-selected winning operator after January 1 2023, when the incumbent’s current 10-year contract ends. The region has secured a KC2·57bn loan from the European Investment Bank to help fund the EMUs, which will be partly assembled by ŽOS Trnava in Slovakia.
Škoda’s RegioPanter export order book includes 13 three-car and 12 four-car EMUs for ZSSK of Slovakia, 32 four-car EMUs for Pasažieru Vilciens of Latvia and six three-car units for Elron of Estonia with an option for another 10.
