The flagship of Polish railways invites you to taste Polish gastronomy, for example.
A new train has been added to the Czech railway. Starting this morning, Czech Railways (ČD) passengers can ride between Bohumín and Prague in the ED 250 Pendolino unit of the Polish carrier PKP Intercity, as part of its trial operation.
From Bohumín and Ostrava, the unit left on time, in Olomouc it was about five minutes late due to construction work on the track. She took two more minutes to Pardubice. Today, the train is extraordinarily reversed. It arrived in Prague according to the schedule at 8:28 in the morning, almost fully occupied.
For the Polish pendolino, this is the first regular operation outside Poland. Until June 17, the vehicle will cover the mandatory kilometers in the Czech Republic with passengers required for approval in the country as well. This is one of the conditions for fulfilling the contract and for the carrier to obtain a subsidy.
The Poles ordered their pendolin in 2011, twenty trains for a speed of 250 km/h came out even with the construction of technical facilities and 17 years of maintenance for 665 million euros. The funding was provided by a European subsidy to improve the quality of domestic transport. Due to its conditions, the units were not allowed outside Poland for the first 15 years. This time is now ending, the carrier wants to use the trains commercially in the future also abroad.
The Pendolina PKP Intercity are newer than those from ČD. Despite the minimal difference in cabinet width, it offers a 2+2 seating arrangement in second class. Compared to the units of the Czech carrier, they carry more passengers (402 compared to 331), but they have less space available.
Local staff will be additionally trained on the train on the Czech corridor, restaurant services will be provided by the Polish company WARS with its wide range of Polish gastronomy. Like the Czech ones, the units are air-conditioned, equipped with Wi-Fi, first class and a quiet car. In the Czech Republic, the ED 250 unit is permitted for a speed of up to 160 km/h.
“During the test operation with passengers, the Polish Pendolino is to travel a total of 60,000 kilometers on our lines. According to the operational situation, passengers will most often meet the Polish Pendolino on trains SC 511 Praha hl.n. (15:31) – Bohumín (18:54) and SC 516 Bohumín (4:58) – Prague hl.n. (8:28). The same transport conditions will apply in them as on other SuperCity connections, trains between Bohumín and Prague have compulsory seats. Passengers can add a seat to their ticket for free when purchasing online at www.cd.cz or in the Můj vlak mobile application. ČD spokesman Petr Šťáhlavský informed.
We will provide a more detailed report from the first ride later.
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