České Dráhy
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České dráhy (English: ''Czech Railways''), often shortened to ČD, is the major
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
operator in the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
providing regional and long-distance services. The company was established in January 1993, shortly after the
dissolution of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on December 31, 1992, was the Self-determination, self-determined Partition (politics), partition of the federal republic of Fifth Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia into the independent ...
, as a successor of the
Czechoslovak State Railways Czechoslovak State Railways (''Československé státní dráhy'' in Czech or ''Československé štátne dráhy'' in Slovak, often abbreviated to ČSD) was the state-owned railway company of Czechoslovakia. The company was founded in 1918 ...
. It is a member of the International Railway Union ( UIC Country Code for the Czech Republic is 54), the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies, and the Organization for Cooperation of Railways. With twenty-four thousand employeesAnnual Report of České dráhy, a.s. for the Year 2014, auditor Deloitte Audit s.r.o. ČD Group is the fifth largest Czech company by the number of employees.


History

In 1827–1836, the České Budějovice–Linz railway was built, which was the second horse-drawn railway in
continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...
was established. The first steam-hauled railway in the area was established in 1839, from
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
to
Břeclav Břeclav (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. Located at the Czech-Austrian state border and near the Czech–Slovak state border, it is an important railway hub. Administrative divis ...
. The first
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
electrified railway track in the area was built in 1903.
Czechoslovak State Railways Czechoslovak State Railways (''Československé státní dráhy'' in Czech or ''Československé štátne dráhy'' in Slovak, often abbreviated to ČSD) was the state-owned railway company of Czechoslovakia. The company was founded in 1918 ...
(, abbreviated as ČSD), the predecessor of České dráhy, was established in 1918. In 1991, the first
EuroCity EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...
(EC) trains ran on ČSD railways. České dráhy was founded in 1993, following the breakup of
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
. The company began a program of renovating Pan-European railway corridors the same year. The following year, the company launched
truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...
transportation ("RoLa") on ČD railways from Lovosice to
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, which it stopped in 2004. During the 1990s, there was a noticeable drop in railway traffic throughout the Czech Republic, a phenomenon that coincided with a massive expansion in road transport. Seeking to halt, or even partially reverse, this trend, substantial efforts were made to restructure and modernise the railways and their operation. One such measure was the establishment of České dráhy as a joint stock company in January 2003; soon thereafter, various subsidiaries were created that focused on various sectors, such as research,
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, and rolling stock maintenance. Officials were keen to reduce the organisation's losses and to make it a commercially competitive venture, thus numerous reforms were implemented around this time, which included the centralisation of some activities (such as purchasing and internal stocking) while other activities were
outsource Outsourcing is a business practice in which company, companies use external providers to carry out business processes that would otherwise be handled internally. Outsourcing sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to ...
d to third parties to increase efficiency. There was a general trend towards reducing employee headcount while various new technologies were brought in. In 2005, Pendolino tilting trains entered the operator's regular service. In subsequent years, the company's liabilities grew exponentially. Liabilities increased from 19 billion Czech koruna (CZK) at the end of 2006 to CZK 53 billion at the end of 2015. For the second phase of this restructuring, on 1 December 2007, České dráhy spun off its freight operations into the newly established ČD Cargo, which remained a wholly-owned subsidiary of České dráhy. Prior to 1 July 2008, České dráhy was the biggest employer in the Czech Republic. Prior to the late 2000s, the organisation had historically incurred losses as a matter of routine, thus necessitating the provision of
subsidies A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acce ...
from the Czech government. However, during 2007, České dráhy recorded a profit of 53 million CZK (2.1 million
Euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
), which was the first time the company had recorded a profit in its history. Despite this milestone, České dráhy has continued to receive government subsidies and undergo periodic reforms with the aim of cutting costs to become a routinely profitable operating concern. In 2008, ČD Sky, an alliance between České dráhy and the airline SkyEurope, was created. SkyEurope, which was heavily indebted, ceased operations in August 2009. Measures aimed at increasing operating efficiency have spanned various aspects of the organisation. During January 2008, plans to transfer passenger transport operations to an independent subsidiary were met with approval from the Czech government. While České dráhy is responsible for operating train services, the management and operation of the railway infrastructure (such as the tracks, signals, and stations) is managed by
Správa železniční dopravní cesty ''The Auschwitz Report'' () is a 2021 historical drama war film directed by Peter Bebjak who co-wrote the script with Jozef Pastéka & Peter Bebjack. It was selected as the Slovak entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, ...
(SŽDC). During December 2010, the Czech government proposed bringing SŽDC and ČD together in a single holding company. Around this time, the government also changed the subsidy available to both ČD and SŽDC. During 2018, plans were mooted for the privatisation of subsidiary ČD Cargo. However, in November of that year, it was announced that no change would occur and that ČD Cargo would remain a state-owned entity; this was reportedly due to a decision by Andrej Babiš, the
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic The prime minister of the Czech Republic ( Czech: ''Předseda vlády České republiky'') is the head of the government of the Czech Republic and the '' de facto'' leader and most powerful member of the executive branch. The Constitution provid ...
, to
veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...
the proposal. During the 2010s, the open-access operator RegioJet has competed directly with České dráhy for passenger patronage between
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
and
Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...
. On 29 September 2011, the latter adopted similar pricing to those charged by RegioJet on the same route, which RegioJet declared to be unfair competition and a misuse of České dráhy's dominant position. Two years later, RegioJet took legal action over České dráhy's pricing policy, alleging its negative impact on its business results. During June 2022, the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
claimed that, between 2012 and 2016, České dráhy and the Austrian train operator ÖBB had colluded to prevent RegioJet from obtaining long-distance coaches from the latter. In 2014, the first "ČD Railjet" with passengers ran in the Czech Republic. Modern rolling stock from international manufacturers has been purchases on multiple occasions. Perhaps the most prominent is the ČD Class 680 Pendolino, a high speed tilting train, which was originally intended for operating international services between
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,
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, and
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. A successor to the Pendolino was reportedly being sought during the early 2020s; the company has also declared its ambitions to build a dedicated high speed network akin to the TGV. During the 2010s, both České dráhy and freight subsidiary ČD Cargo were operating Siemens Vectron electric locomotives; these have often been leased from other companies. In December 2021, a CZK 5 billion (225.4 million United States dollars) contract for a further 31 three-car RegioPanter electric multiple units (EMUs) was issued to
Škoda Transportation Škoda Transportation Akciová společnost, a.s. is a Czech Republic, Czech manufacturer of vehicles for public transport, including Tram, trams, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, and Bus, buses. The company was formerly a divisio ...
, making for a total fleet size of 110 such trains operated by České dráhy. The company has also explored the use of alternative fuel vehicles. In 2019, the supervisory board of České dráhy dismissed its
Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
, who has been in office since September 2018, as Kupec faced an investigation over possible illegal conduct. In November 2022, it was announced that Czech plans to subsidise electrified rail operations had been approved by the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
, benefitting companies such as České dráhy. That same month, plans were revealed to modernise in excess of 2,000 coaches and other rail vehicles over the next four years at an annual cost of roughly Koruna 3.5bn (142.2 million United States dollars).


Statistics

During 2015, České dráhy recorded that its consolidated revenues were CZK 33 billion.Annual Report of České dráhy, a.s. for the Year 2013, auditor Deloitte Audit s.r.o. Comprising this figure were revenues from passenger transport, which amounted to CZK 21 billion (64% transfer payments from the government, 24% intrastate transport, 12% international transport), along with revenues from
freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...
transport operated by subsidiary ČD Cargo, which amounted to CZK 11 billion. * of railway lines operated by ČD, of which was electrified track and is
double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...
- and multiple-track,České dráhy Group Statistical Yearbook 2010
. ''ceskedrahy.cz'', Retrieved 21 June 2024
all of them transferred to the infrastructure operator Správa železnic since. *168.8 million passengers carried *6,907 million passenger-kilometres *76.723 million tonnes of goods carried *13,592 million tonne-kilometres


Freight services

ČD Cargo, the cargo subsidiary, mainly transports
raw material A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials/Intermediate goods that are feedstock for future finished ...
s,
intermediate good Intermediate goods, producer goods or semi-finished products are Good (economics), goods, such as partly finished goods, used as inputs in the production of other goods including final goods. A firm may make and then use intermediate goods, or mak ...
s and
containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
. As of 2009, it is ranked in the top five largest railway cargo operators in Europe.


Rolling stock

*2,726 tractive vehicles, of which 856 are electric locomotives and train-sets *27,416 freight cars *3,605 passenger cars


Tourism

In 1999, the České dráhy Museum was opened in Lužná. It is the largest railway museum in the Czech Republic with the largest collection of
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
s.


See also

* Rail transport in the Czech Republic * Transport in the Czech Republic * List of ČD Classes * Valšov–Rýmařov railway


References


External links

*
ČD Cargo divisionActual train position
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceske Drahy Railway companies of the Czech Republic Companies based in Prague Railway companies established in 2003 Czech brands Government-owned railway companies Czech companies established in 2003