Michal Krapinec, a law graduate, began his professional career in the legal profession. He has been working within the ČD (Czech Railways) Group for ten years, gaining extensive experience in the areas of cargo and information systems. Besides railways, his interests include mainly travel and sports. He has been Chairman of the Board of Directors and the General Director of ČD since April this year.
You have spent your entire professional life on the railway and within the Czech Railways Group. What is your vision for a European-style national carrier?
I basically have three priorities — financial stability of the company, satisfi ed employees and quality of service.
Immediately after joining, my colleagues and I quickly dealt with urgent matters regarding fi nancing and rating. Now we are gradually moving on to other tasks. Among them is setting expectations for 2022 and preparing a new medium-term plan that takes into account the current situation where we are not reaching revenues from the period before COVID-19, but input prices are rocketing.
However, I believe that even at this time, we can move the railways further. I consider it essential to continue to modernise the fleet and to introduce modern technologies, including environmentally friendly ones. The road to alternatively powered vehicles will be long, but I am very much in favour of it.
Customer expectations are focused on quality. Have you been successful in off ering quality?
Quality of service is a prerequisite for revenue growth. We will continue to expand, for example, the wi-fi offered on our trains as well as assistance for passengers with children, disabled citizens and cyclists. Of course, quality is also linked to a modern fleet. ČD plans to invest up to CZK 100 billion in the purchase of trains over the next ten years.
The management community is using rail more and more. How do you look after this demanding customer?
All customers are demanding. Both managers and students work using computers today. So, for example, we have installed wifi technology on a thousand more trains. It is important to have enough sockets to charge small electronics. Our state-of-the-art InterJet trains even off er wireless charging for mobile phones. For the fi rst time ever in Central Europe, window production technology has been used in these trains to allow mobile phone signals to pass more easily into the train while maintaining the thermal insulation properties of the glass. The penetration of mobile signals in trains should also be improved by repeater technology, which will be tested in the summer. Folding tables or reclining seats are commonplace on modern trains, which, in addition to the ability to work during the journey, offer pleasant comfort. Refreshments are also important, whether in the form of restaurant or bistro carriages, where we cooperate with leading Czech chefs to prepare menus with an interesting culinary experience, or in the form of a minibar, where passengers can find basic refreshments.
The new InterJet trains have signifi cantly increased travel comfort on the lines from Prague to Cheb via Plzeň and via Ústí nad Labem.
Customers demand punctuality, quality and new services, which also means investments in the fl eet. What new vehicles can we expect to see in your colours?
For example, we launched InterJets, currently the most modern trains in Europe, which was big news in recent months. We ordered 50 two-car and 60 three-car RegioPanter electric units of the latest design for regional transport. The trains will be introduced into service gradually and are currently running, for instance, in the South Bohemia and Pilsen regions. Another 66 trains equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS) will be delivered by the Polish manufacturer PESA Bydhošt‘. The fi rst units will start coming out of production in the 2023 timetable period and beyond. The framework contract allows for purchasing up to 160 of these trains. A novelty for long-distance and international transport will be 20 brand new nine-car units. The trains with an operating speed of up to 230 km/h will be used mainly on international lines to Germany or Austria, but they will also serve Czech lines, e.g. from Prague to Ústí nad Labem or from Prague to Brno. The first trains will be delivered in 2024. In the future, we will also deploy 50 powerful Siemens Vectron locomotives for interstate connections at a speed of 230 km/h. So passengers can look forward to many innovations in the coming years.
The greening of rail transport is a European and national issue. Are you planning to use new propulsion systems, such as hydrogen?
In the second half of May, we presented the fi rst and only hydrogen-powered train put into regular operation with Alstom at a rail show across the country. Hydrogen will be used primarily in regional transport. We are already discussing this option with, for example, the Moravian-Silesian Region and the Ústí nad Labem Region. Europe is tending towards decarbonisation, and there are tendencies to replace old diesel vehicles with alternative ones. However, it will depend on the contracting authorities, either individual regions or the state, whether they will require alternative propulsion in tenders for public transport. Let us not forget that there is no infrastructure for filling these rains. And the cost of the hydrogen-powered vehicles themselves is also crucial here. They are currently around forty to fifty per cent more expensive than conventional motor vehicles. So yes, we are definitely giving the green light to alternative propulsion, whether it is hydrogen or battery trains. We will support this trend as much as possible, but the final decision is up to the customers — the regions and the state.
Thank you for the interview.
