Martin Kupka, the Minister of Transport since December 2021, has been dealing with transport from the perspective of a media representative and at a regional level. His priorities in rail transport include preparing high-speed lines and installing European safety equipment, which the Ministry will also present at this year’s Rail Business Days in Ostrava.
Minister, the digitisation and the introduction of modern technologies are a must for improving the quality of services for the transportation of passengers and freight on the railways. What are your priorities in this area?
Our priority is not only improving the quality of transport but, above all, its safety. From this point of view, introducing a unified European Train Control System – ETCS – is essential. Rail carriers are preparing for exclusive ETCS-supervised operation on the corridors starting 1 January 2025. Work is now underway on 417 kilometres of tracks, with over 3,200 kilometres in preparation. Currently, investments are directed to purchasing new modern units with the onboard ETCS part from the manufacturer and retrofitting existing vehicles. And, of course, we are also focused on the related train driver training.
One of the directions of railway competitiveness is the implementation of so-called high-speed lines. When will construction start?
There are currently more than 300 kilometres of high-speed lines (HSR) in the technical design phase, but we are preparing a total of 800 kilometres. We are currently in the final stages of the preparation of the Polabí, Moravská brána I and II and South Moravia HSR projects, with tenders for the construction of the first sections expected to take place in 2026. We plan for the first high-speed trains to be on the Czech tracks as soon as the early 2030s.
The development of railways is also an opportunity for the manufacturers of rolling stock. Can we look forward to modernisation in this area as well?
In the bidding procedures organised by our office, new vehicles are assumed on most of the newly entered operating sets. For example, from December 2026, the carrier RegioJet, a.s. has an obligation with the Ministry of Transport to provide new vehicles on the R9 line Prague – Havlíčkův Brod – Jihlava/Brno, and a tender process is currently underway for the operation of trains in the direction from Prague to railway corridor III to Pilsen and Bavaria, where it is also expected to provide transport with new vehicles.
České dráhy (Czech Railways) is also significantly modernising its rolling stock. This year, they will take over 45 RegioPanters, 59 RegioFoxes, 8 ComfortJet eight-car sets, and 22 Siemens Vectron locomotives. This means they will provide passengers with over 22,000 new, comfortable seats this year.
But we are not only concerned with the technical side of new vehicles. As I mentioned, we place a great deal of emphasis on safety and, in addition, on passenger comfort. The new trains are barrier-free, airconditioned and have an audiovisual information system. Passengers will find, among other things, Wi-Fi, electrical outlets, USB ports for recharging electronics or sockets for recharging electric wheelchairs.
Road transport lacks an impulse in the form of the completion of motorways. The current system of construction and financing is no longer satisfactory. What do you see as a way out of this situation?
Last year, the Directorate of Roads and Motorways managed 66.8 billion crowns; this year, the budget increased to 78.1 billion Czech crowns. Thanks to these budgets, around 245,4 kilometres of new roads and highways are currently under construction. This is historically the highest number that the Czech Republic has experienced. In 2024, we will put 118 km of new highways into operation. In 2025, there will be another 52 km. It is also important that in 2024, we will start the construction of 115 km of new highways, and in 2025, we want to start 117 km.
Given that we want and need to complete the backbone highway network as quickly as possible, it is clear hat state funding will not be enough. I, therefore, consider it necessary for the state to find other ways to finance transport constructions. Specifically, it will be a combination of money from the state budget, European money, a loan from the European Investment Bank, and private-public partnership (PPP) projects. Thanks to the good experience with PPP on D4, we are now working on the basis of a government resolution to verify the use of PPP projects for further construction, for example, on the completion of the Prague Ring Road or the D3 and D55 motorways. A selection process for a transaction consultant for the completion of the D35 highway is also currently underway.
Thank you for the interview.
