Electrical outlets not just on the Pendolino
Electrical outlets are available in more trains, and this year you’ll find them on the Pendolinos as well. The first Pendolino train now has 230 V electrical outlets in 2nd class for portable electronic devices, e.g. for charging a laptop or mobile telephone. This year, electrical outlets will be installed in another three units and the remaining ones will be fitted with electrical outlets in 2012. The number of other trains equipped with electrical outlets is rising as well, especially in 2nd class carriages.
Electrical outlets and the ability to charge portable electronic devices during a train journey are among the supplementary services most frequently requested by our passengers today, and this upgrade is part of most of ČD’s current modernisation projects. In addition to Pendolino trains, electrical outlets will be installed in all modernised carriages for EuroCity and InterCity connections scheduled for repairs in 2011 – i.e. nearly fifty 2nd class carriages. Electrical outlets will also be installed in additional carriages, the modernisation of which is currently in preparation. This includes, for example, 64 combined 2nd class carriages with a service compartment, and approximately 190 carriages mainly for use on long-distance connections but in part also on regional trains. New single-deck “Pantograph” trains from the company Škoda Vagonka will be equipped with electrical outlets as well.
ČD initiated the installation of electrical outlets in the first carriages in the mid-1990s. These were 1st class carriages operating on the former luxury SC Manažer Ostrava – Praha express, among other connections. Recently, electrical outlets were installed in all carriages designated as Siemens models (all 1st and 2nd class carriages), which operate mainly on connections from Prague via Děčín to Germany and from Prague via Brno and Břeclav to Austria. Electrical outlets are also available to passengers in the 1st class sections of suburban CityElefant trains, as well as on certain fast trains and limited-stop trains operating on non-electrified lines.
In 2011, 230 V electrical outlets for charging portable electronic devices will be installed in a total of four Pendolino trains, in nearly fifty modernised 2nd class carriages for EuroCity and InterCity trains, and in driving trailers for classic connections that will be put into operation this year. The installation of electrical outlets is also planned for other types of carriages and special-purpose trains.
The lines where selected carriages and compartments are equipped with electrical outlets include:
- EuroCity connections operating on the Praha – Děčín – Germany route
- EuroCity connections operating on the Praha – Brno – Břeclav – Austria / – Slovakia – Hungary route
- EuroCity, InterCity and Expres connections operating on the Praha – Olomouc – Ostrava – Poland / –Slovakia route
- SuperCity connections
- fast trains operating on the Kolín – Nymburk – Česká Lípa – Rumburk route
- fast trains operating on the Praha – Plzeň – Domažlice – Germany route
- fast trains operating on the Praha – Kladno – Rakovník route
- limited-stop trains operating on the Kolín – Chlumec nad Cidlinou – Stará Paka – Trutnov route
- limited-stop trains operating on the Hradec Králové – Týniště nad Orlicí – Letohrad route
- Esko suburban connections in Prague and the Central Bohemia Region operating CityElefant trains
- S1 and R1 connections in the Moravia-Silesia Region operating CityElefant trains