The Central Bohemian Region and the city of Prague are gearing up for a significant tender worth 60 billion Czech crowns to select a new railway carrier. This tender will be the largest of its kind, focusing on transport services between regions. The contract, spanning 15 years, is set to replace the existing agreement with Czech Railways (ČD) for railway services in the region, which concludes in 2029.

The competition for the new carrier is slated to be announced in the coming spring, aiming to attract a wide range of manufacturers and operators. Petr Borecký, the Central Bohemian Councilor for Public Transport, expects the selection process to take approximately one year, including time for potential objections, appeals, and inquiries from applicants. This timeline will ensure that the chosen carrier, in collaboration with the selected manufacturer, has sufficient time to finalize the contract and have new vehicles ready by 2029.

The winning bidder can be either a single operator or multiple carriers, similar to the current bus transportation tender that is divided into different regions. To facilitate the competition, an expert team is being formed through discussions between the regional government and the city of Prague. The Central Bohemian Region will serve as the central contracting authority, and a public procurement administrator with transportation expertise will be selected by the end of the month.

The competition will primarily focus on main corridor routes, where the deployment of EMU 400 train sets, alongside the existing CityElefant sets, is planned. Additionally, the region intends to hold new competitions for 20% of services on medium-sized unelectrified lines. These lines, such as Prague-Vrané nad Vltavou-Čerčany, Prague-Neratovice-Mladá Boleslav, and Prague-Hostivice-Rudná, have traffic intensity levels between local lines and main corridor routes. The value of the contract for these lines is estimated to be around four to five billion Czech crowns, and the new carriers will operate on them from 2025 or no later than 2026 for a duration of ten years.

As part of the agreement with ČD, the procurement of 22 new three-car RegioPanter electric units and ten new two-car RegioFox diesel units is planned. The RegioPanter units are expected to commence operations next year on the Prague-Ústí nad Labem and Prague-Čáslav routes via Kolín, while the RegioFox units will run from Prague through Rudná to Beroun and from Beroun to Rakovník. Renewing the rolling stock is deemed necessary, with the goal of gradually phasing out the first-generation unit 471 and the aging Class 810 motorized units, which are already considered museum pieces, according to Borecký.

Article by Prague Forum