By the end of the year, RSL will deliver four more locomotives of the same type to Czech Railways, and in 2024 there will be a further 22 Siemens Vectron locomotives.
The carrier currently has 35 Siemens Vectron locomotives. By the end of the year, this number will increase to 39. RSL will provide ČD with a total of 50 locomotives by the end of 2024. At the same time, ČD has ordered another 50 Siemens Vectron 230 km/h locomotives from Siemens Mobility. These will go into service in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Germany and Denmark. They will also power the new ComfortJet express trains.
In the 2024 timetable, ČD will use the Siemens Vectron locomotives at their current capacity and also expand their use on connections to Poland, where they will operate more connections to Warsaw, including the Báthory train from Budapest to Warsaw, to Slovakia, where they will operate a new connection to Žilina, and will also operate more trains between Prague and Bohumín. The Berliner from Prague to Germany, the Metropolitan from Prague to Budapest, the Western Express from Prague to Cheb and the Krušnohor from Cheb to Ústí nad Labem will continue to run. A traditional Vectron service is the Slovácký Express between Prague and Starý Město u Uherského Hradiště.
From the start of the 2024 timetable, Siemens Vectron locomotives in service with ČD will cover more than 32,000 kilometres a day on lines in the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.
Siemens Vectron locomotives are modern multi-system machines (3 kV DC, 25 kV 50 Hz AC, 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC) equipped with the latest communication and signalling technology, including the ETCS train control system and GSM-R radio station. The locomotives have a maximum speed of 200 km/h and a power of up to 6,400 kW.
