Michal Krapinec is a top manager working all his professional life in the group of the national carrier.
Since April 2022, he has been the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Czech Railways, and his goal is the financial stability of the company and the improvement of the quality of services.
The term “national carrier” obliges Czech Railways to be constantly innovative. What are your priorities for the near future?
The main priorities that we currently want to focus on in relation to customers can be summed up in three words – modernisation, reliability, digitisation. This year alone, almost 140 electric, motor, and non-raction units and electric locomotives are on rails. If we count each vehicle or section of the unit separately, that is roughly 440 individual vehicles. And if we convert it into seats, we offer passengers more than 22 thousand comfortable seats in airconditioned and barrier-free trains with onboard Wi-Fi and other amenities that belong to the standard of train travel in the 21st century. We started last year and this year we will continue with the deployment of new RegioPanter electric units in two- and threecar versions. We also expect to begin the deliveries of RegioFox trains. We are talking about regional transport. In the long distance transport, our attention is directed to the beginning of the summer when our state-of-the-art ComfortJet cars will enter trial operation. Firstly, they will travel domestically from Prague to Ostrava and then go onto international routes.
If we sum up all the deliveries, we can say that a small revolution is taking place on Czech railways because, between 2011 and 2021, we deployed a total of about 170 new vehicles. And now, just in the last three years, there have been 180 of them! And it is showing itself on the rails.
In order to attract to the trains also those who currently travel, for example, by car, we must also be a reliable carrier. We are also trying to do our best in this area. Last year, we increased the punctuality of our trains by another 3%.
Modernisation and the purchase of new rolling stock also require new forms of financing. Can you say more about them?
Massive investments await us this year. It is, therefore, important that we managed to get the entire ČD Group back into the black after several years. In the first half of 2023, we had a profit of approximately one billion crowns. The second half of the year developed in the same trend.
However, for such a radical renewal of our fleet as we are planning this year, we must also use other financial resources. Just to give you an idea of what kind of framework we are talking about. This year, we will invest 18.7 billion crowns. So, we will undoubtedly draw on a significant volume of foreign resources during the year. We will use more resources. The first will be a loan from Eurofima, with whom we are negotiating to increase the existing credit framework of 640 million euros, up to double, for the next 25 years. It offers the most favourable conditions on the market. However, with these funds, we can finance only purchasing those vehicles that will be operated as part of a public service obligation. For the purchase of more technologically advanced trains, we are considering a loan from the European Investment Bank, and there is also the possibility of issuing bonds on the European bond market.
How is the approach to passengers changing, and how do you want to attract new customers?
Passengers are becoming more demanding, and that is a good thing. This puts pressure on carriers to constantly improve our services. At České dráhy, we want to fight for the favour of our customers with what we have always been strong at – comprehensive care for our passengers. With us, passengers will never miss their destination. Whatever complications arise on the railway, we always do our best to care for passengers. By combining new trains, quality service on board and further enhancements to the features of our My train mobile app, we want to make our trains the first choice for people on their journeys.
Thank you for the interview.
