Czech Railways get three more Vectrons, to operate on InterJets in the west
The locomotives will replace class 362 on the Western Express and the Krusnohor fast train.
Czech Railways leased three more Siemens Vectron locomotives and increased their total number to 23. The machines are supplied to the carrier by Rolling Stock Lease.
CD now uses 23 Siemens Vectron locomotives. They are regularly deployed on the Berliner trains to Berlin, Hamburg and Kiel, the Slovacky Express from Prague to Stare Mesto u Uherskeho Hradiste and on the Western Express from Prague to Cheb. The new Vectrons will replace class 362 locomotives from mid-June on the remaining capacity on the Western Express and also on the Krusnohor fast trains between Cheb and Usti nad Labem.
By the end of the year, CD will take over four more Siemens Vectron locomotives from RSL, bringing the total number to 27 machines. The locomotives have a maximum speed of 200 km/h and a power of 6,400 kW. Their equipment is state-of-the-art, such as GSM-R digital mobile communication or ETCS.
Czech Railways has opened a tender for the lease of up to 50 multi-system locomotives, which was entered by six companies. However, the Slovak company Rolling Stock Lease had no competition in the end, as all other bidders were excluded from the tender for not having met the conditions. Czech Railways can buy the machines after a year.
Edited and translated by Lucie Trávníčková.