New Škoda fleet for Czech Railways

In an effort to streamline international train travel, as well as reduce delays at nearby border crossings, national railway company České dráhy (ČD) has introduced the first prototypes of its new state-of-the-art locomotives, The Prague Post reported.

The long-awaited locomotives, called 109E, began their trial runs June 24 at Škoda Transportation test tracks in Plzeň, west Bohemia, in preparation for their official “gala debut” at Berlin’s InnoTrans Transport Technology Trade Fair in September. These will be the first Czech locomotives able to travel at speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour. They were designed, developed and manufactured domestically by Škoda Transportation.

According to railway officials, the fleet of 20 new locomotives — worth approximately 2.5 billion CZK (EUR 100 m) — will boost the quality of the country’s rail transportation to the same level as neighboring Germany and Austria, two countries with efficient systems known to rank well above that in the Czech Republic. Currently, all international trains must stop at borders because of incompatible electrical systems with neighboring countries.

- The Czech Republic currently doesn’t have locomotives necessary for international connections, - said ČD spokeswoman Markéta Krausová, adding that, - the average age of our locomotives is 27 years. The last ones were delivered to České dráhy in the 1990s, which is why it’s really necessary to renew them.

- The new Škoda locomotive now ranks among the world’s safest locomotives, - said Radka Pistoriusová, spokeswoman for Škoda Holding a.s. - It’s excellent.

The 109E will be subject to an additional series of tests before heading out for a second test track in Velim. The new locomotives were designed for operation in six Central European countries — the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.

Authorities said the first of the 20 new locomotives is expected to be delivered to ČD by the end of the year, and hope to have them fully in use by November 2009. The selection of Škoda Transportation as the new engine’s developer in spite of forceful competition from abroad in 2004 was considered a curious and controversial one at first. Some officials felt ČD would have been better off choosing a foreign bidder, such as Germany’s Siemens, which could have produced a similar locomotive immediately, whereas Škoda needed to develop the technology from scratch, which resulted in several delays, writes The Prague Post.

Source: Transportweekly