Czech Railways to tender for class 471 successor this year, looking to acquire up to 90 double-decker units
The new units can be over a 100 meters long and should accommodate at least 380 passengers.
Czech Railways plans to launch a competition later this year for up to 90 double-decker electric units. The new two-system units with a speed of up to 160 km/h will gradually replace the outdated class 471 units used in Prague’s urban and suburban rail transport.
The new units can be over 100 meters long, which corresponds to four carriages. They will be intended for main lines in large agglomerations, especially in Prague and the Central Bohemian Region. The new units should also address the planned conversion of power supply in and around Prague from 3 kV DC to 25 kV 50 Hz AC.
Seventy class 471 units operate in Prague today. They will be the backbone of suburban rail transport for a long time to come; Czech Railways recently concluded a contract to equip 66 of them with ETCS. This does not apply to the first 16 units delivered; CD expects these to be phased out by 2030.
Edited and translated by Lucie Trávníčková.