RegioJet, a private rail and bus operator based in the Czech Republic, replenished its fleet of rolling stock with nine couchette coaches previously operated in Germany by Deutsche Bahn last week.
According to information in the Czech mass media, RegioJet purchased the couchette coaches in preparation for expansion into Ukraine, the CFTS portal reports.
“We are preparing for, among other things, establishment of links with Ukraine, as well as with other European countries in the future,” said Aleš Ondrůj, a spokesperson for RegioJet.
“RegioJet is the largest private passenger rail carrier in Central Europe, which is still investing in the development of its rolling stock and is intensively preparing for full operation in the summer season,” Ondrůj added. According to him, interest in booking tickets has grown significantly in recent days.
According to the latest data, RegioJet wants to launch a train from Prague through Poland to Medyka on the Ukrainian border in December this year. The company has already filed the relevant application with the Polish Railway Administration.
As reported, before the coronavirus epidemic began, RegioJet planned to launch this train on June 14 this year. Even earlier, in August 2019, the company announced that the train would run from Prague through via Pardubice, Ostrava, Bohumin (Czech Republic), Krakow, Rzeszow, Przemysl, Medyka (Poland) to the Mostyska-2 station (Lviv region). It was assumed that passengers would travel from Mostyska to Lviv by bus.
The couchette coaches that the company purchased from Deutsche Bahn are of the Bvcmz model. The Czech operator bought 18 such cars in Germany last year. Each of them is designed to carry 60 passengers in 10 compartments. They are air-conditioned and can be operated at speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour. They are also equipped with vacuum toilets, some of which are suitable for transportation of passengers in wheelchairs.
