České dráhy lacks passenger cars due to problems in repair sector
České dráhy is 120 to 150 cars per day short.
For a long time, the number of cars České dráhy has been taking out of service is higher than of those coming back from maintenance, resulting in a loss of three to five cars every week. The usual timeframe for maintenance is 40 to 45 days, but now cars are returning after 120 days or more.
The backlog continues to grow, mainly due to the delivery times of subcontractors. České dráhy itself is now short ca. 200 people in the maintenance department, which results in longer repair times even for light maintenance.
At present, ČD is 120 to 150 cars per day short in the system, which means that it operates virtually without backup. There are no reinforcement cars or emergency replacement cars available, and the operator has to use inferior cars that should be in service only marginally. As a result of the critical shortage of cars, it is also forced to shorten trains and change the composition of trains.
In an effort to increase the number of cars, České dráhy is looking abroad. However, as mentioned in the local media, neighboring countries are facing similar problems. In Austria, passengers have encountered an S-Bahn unit on a line normally served by Railjet, and on the Villach–Vienna line, conventional EC/IC cars have been deployed instead of Railjets. In Germany, the shortage of ICE3M units for international services has led to some lines being shortened without replacement.
Edited and translated by Lucie Trávníčková