The project involves the purchase of 36 electric units with a total of 10 140 seats and a top speed of 160 km/h for railway passenger transport in Czechia’s South Moravian region. They will run on the 47 km line 260 between Letovice and Brno, the 24 km line 300 between Brno and Křenovice and two sections of line 250: the 63 km Křižanov-Brno section and the 59 km Brno-Břeclav section.
- 17 December 2019
Of the new units, 30 will be composed of four coaches each and have space for 310 seated passengers. The other six will have two coaches and accommodate 140 passengers.
Features will include automatic couplers to make it possible to operate the two types of unit in a single train and on European Train Control System level 2 infrastructure. Communication with control centres will be possible through the national track radio system and the GSM-R global system for mobile railway communication.
Replacing obsolete vehicles
The new rolling stock will replace obsolete 30-50-year-old vehicles. Air-conditioning, wifi, spacious seating, a low-floor design to make getting on and off easier, improved toilet facilities with one toilet per unit for persons with reduced mobility, space for prams and bicycles, and lower noise levels will all increase passenger comfort.
The vehicles will meet EU interoperability specifications in areas including access for passengers with reduced mobility, noise, telematic applications for passenger services and subsystems for control-command, signalling, operation and traffic management. In addition, they will comply with all relevant national, International Union of Railways and environmental requirements.
In 2017, 29.67 million journeys were taken on South Moravia’s railways. Two main international corridors passing through the region form the backbone of its integrated public transport system. This system covers parts of neighbouring regions and border areas in Austria and Slovakia. The lines to be served by the new rolling stock have significant passenger numbers and connections with other services, including buses and urban transport in the regional capital, Brno.Although 68 % of the city’s inhabitants travel by car and only 28 % take trains or buses, public transport use is expected to rise due to factors like congestion, restrictions on car journeys in towns and lack of parking space.
Comfortable, high-quality services
Enhancing the availability and comfort of passenger rail services, which is the basic aim of the project, will boost the attractiveness and competitiveness of the railways in relation to private cars, thereby encouraging people to switch from road to rail.
As a result, negative environmental impacts of transport such as greenhouse gas emissions, noise and vibrations, all of which can affect the health and quality of life of local residents and harm flora and fauna, will be minimised. Similar benefits will come from the fact that the new units are more environmentally friendly than those they replace.
Further objectives include generating time savings and increases in reliability: the former thanks to the higher speeds of the new vehicles; the latter due to them being less likely to break down than the old models. The introduction of modern ICT train control systems and low-floor vehicles safety will contribute to greater safety.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Procurement of new electric rolling stock as assets of the South Moravian Region” is EUR 318 235 749, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 223 274 594 through the “Transport” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Infrastructure for railway and other sustainable transport”.