SLOVAKIA: National passenger operator ZSSK has awarded a consortium of Škoda Transportation and ŽOS Trnava a contract to supply a further nine three-car Panter dual-voltage electric multiple-units.
The value of the contract announced on August 13 is €76∙3m, of which €74∙4m will be covered by EU co-financing. Scheduled by November 2023, the EMUs are be deployed on regional services in the east of the country , working the Košice – Prešov – Plaveč, Košice – Michaľany – Třebišov and Košice –Michaľany – Čierna nad Tisou lines. The contract includes an option for another 11 units.
The order follows a €160m contract for 13 three-car and 12 four-car dual-voltage Panter EMUs, which ZSSK ordered from the same consortium in March 2018 to work regional services around Žilina and Trenčín. The first of these sets entered passenger service in December 2020.
The latest 160 km/h low-floor trains will have a minimum capacity of 300 seats in second class. They will be fitted with air conditioning, wi-fi, CCTV, power and USB sockets, a passenger counting system and a LED-based audio-visual passenger information system. There will be a multi-purpose area for the carriage of bicycles, prams, skis or bulky luggage.
The Škoda bid beat a rival offer from Stadler Rail, which had recently been selected as preferred bidder for a €77m contract to supply four six-car Kiss double-deck EMUs to operate regional services around Bratislava.
