ComfortJets Taking over the Berliner Train Services

At the end of July, České dráhy will reach another important milestone in the process of modernisation of the rolling stock used on the Berliner Ex5 Prague – Berlin – Hamburg line. All services to Berlin will now be operated with the use of the state-of-the-art ComfortJet long-distance trainsets. The existing rolling stock from this line will be transferred to selected domestic long-distance lines. The popular dining cars on some train connections operated on this line will remain in service.

“The process of modernisation of our long-distance train rolling stock continues successfully. Now, all passengers travelling to Germany will be able to enjoy the comfort of our state-of-the-art ComfortJet trainsets. From July 26, we will have a total of three nine-carriage trainsets and three eight-carriage trainsets, which are to continue to be supplemented by the original dining cars, in operation to Berlin, where these trains will terminate during the upcoming nine-month closure of the Berlin–Hamburg railway line. This means that the ComfortJet trainsets will fully cover the operational needs on this line,” says Michal Krapinec, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of České dráhy, continuing: “The carriages which have been used for the Berliner line so far will not be leaving our colours, just the contrary! We will transfer them to selected domestic express lines, thereby improving comfort for our passengers who use these lines for their travels.”

ComfortJets in a temporary eight-carriage configuration with the original WRmz⁸¹⁵ dining car will run on three pairs of trains – EC 378, EC 170 and EC 258, departing from Praha hl.n. at 10:28, 16:28 and 20:28 hours to Berlin (arriving at 14:43, 20:43 and 00:57 hours) and in the opposite direction to Prague on the EC 171 train departing from Berlin Hbf at 07:15 (arriving at Prague at 11:27), EC 379 departing at 11:16 from the Berlin Hbf railway station (arrival at Prague at 15:23) and also on EC 259 departing from the Berlin Gesundbrunnen railway station at 00:16 (arrival at Prague at 05:23). The other trains on the Prague – Berlin line, with the exception of the EC 172 / 173 Hungaria services consisting of Hungarian trainsets, will already be provided by the nine-carriage ComfortJet units.

České dráhy counts on deployment on domestic express lines of selected classes of carriages which have been running to Germany so far and meet the strict criteria for the EuroCity train category. The transfer of such carriages will improve services offered for example also on the R18 Slovácký expres line (Prague – Luhačovice), where the 2nd class compartment carriages Bmz²³² will begin operating, and on the R20 Labe express line (Prague – Kralupy nad Vltavou – Roudnice nad Labem (– Ústí nad Labem – Děčín)), where passengers can look forward to new first-class Aee¹⁴⁰ carriages. The WRmz⁸¹⁵ dining cars will then be transferred to Bohumín and used on trains on the Ex1 Prague – Ostrava – Bohumín line.

With ComfortJets to all main cardinal directions

České dráhy counts on ComfortJets as the backbone of the national carrier’s long-distance international transport in the upcoming years. In addition to Germany, passengers will be able to use them for travelling from Prague to Villach in Austria, Bratislava, and Budapest, and from the middle of next year up to Copenhagen in Denmark.

České dráhy has currently ordered a total of twenty non-traction units under the ComfortJet brand name from the Siemens-Škoda consortium. The carrier has already taken over altogether seven nine-carriage and five eight-carriage trainsets. The final trainset has nine cars and offers 555 seats, 99 of which being in first class. Another 18 seats are available in the dining car. The train is approximately 237 metres long and is designed for a maximum speed of 230 km/h. It will be operated by Siemens Vectron locomotives modified specifically for this speed. The trains will reach their maximum speed on such routes as from Berlin to Hamburg and on the new Koralmbahn line in Austria.

Passengers on the board of the most modern Czech train will find all the 21st-century services associated with rail travels, such as air-conditioned interiors, a dining car, spaces for passengers in wheelchairs and families with children, places for prams, bicycles, and large luggage, on-board Wi-Fi network, special windows allowing easy mobile phone signal reception, 230 V 50 Hz power supply sockets, USB ports for charging travel electronics, and many other benefits and services.

Within the framework of this year’s timetable, České dráhy operates 148 international long-distance services and four additional seasonal trains to Poland, serving more than 120 different destinations in eight European countries: Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Switzerland, and thanks to the new Adriatic Express train service operated by the Polish carrier PKP Intercity, also in Slovenia and Croatia.