Railways in the

Czech Republic

Czechia is the recognized short form name in English of the Czech Republic. However, its use is uncommon in English speaking countries, and in the country itself, the longer formal name being more usual. In particular, the short form name is rarely used in publications of the Czech government.

AŽD Praha RegioSprinter railcar 654 005-7 on the line between Most and Litoměřice horní nádraží.

The first public railway in continental Europe was built in the Austrian Empire. This was a horse drawn line from Budweis (České Budějovice) to Linz, opened in 1832. Roughly two thirds of the route lay in Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. The first steam hauled railway in the country reached Lundenburg (Břeclav) in Moravia from Vienna in 1839, extended to Brünn (Brno) later the same year.

The railways continued to develop under the Empire, constructed mainly to standard (1435 mm) gauge but with a number of narrow gauge lines in remote areas. Czechoslovakian Railways came into being on the creation of Czechoslovakia following the First World War, becoming Czech Railways on the partition of the country in 1993.

National Network

• ČD Czech Railways, main line passenger operator
• ČD Cargo freight operating arm of ČD
• Alex German regional passenger operator with cross-border services to the Czech Republic (Site in German)
• Arriva Vlaky regional passenger operator with international services from Praha to Trenčín, Slovakia (Site in Czech)
• European Sleeper planned operator from 2024 of international sleeping services to Belgium, Germany, and Netherlands
• GW Train Regio passenger operator in various parts of the country, with some services extending into Germany and Poland (Site in Czech)
• Leo Express regional passenger operator with international services from Praha to destinations in Poland
• Regiojet passenger and freight operator with international services (Website primarily devoted to bus services, information about passenger rail services difficult to find, no information about freight services)
• Trilex German regional passenger operator with cross-border services to the Czech Republic (Site in German and Czech)
• Vogtlandbahn passenger operator in the German / Czech border region around Zittau (Site in German)
• Carbosped independent freight operator (Site in Czech)
• DB Cargo independent freight operator
• EP Cargo independent freight operator
• Express Group independent freight operator
• IDS Cargo independent freight operator
• LTE independent freight operator
• Metrans independent freight operator
• PKP Cargo International independent freight operator
• Rail Cargo Carrier independent freight operator
• Retrack independent freight operator
• RM Lines independent freight operator
• Unipetrol Doprava independent freight operator
• Viamont DSP independent freight operator
• Správa železnic infrastructure authority for the main line network
• LokoTrain licensed as a freight operator for the purposes of its locomotive and crew hire, training and consultancy business (Site in Czech)
• GJW Praha infrastructure contractor
• VUZ Velim railway test centre

Local and Tourist Railways

• AŽD Praha local services on the standard gauge line between Most and Litoměřice horní nádraží, about 51 km (Site mainly in Czech with some information in English)
• Březové Hory Mining Museum near Příbram has surface and underground train rides using former mining equipment. 450mm gauge
• Czech Railway Museum at Lužná u Rakovníka on certain days offers rides on a steam hauled, 800mm gauge railway within the museum grounds
• Drásov Garden Railway narrow gauge museum with a 600mm gauge railway about 400m in length using former industrial equipment
• Důlní železnice 450mm gauge railway at the station in Kořenov using former industrial equipment. Operates on days when the Tanvlad Railway is operating, and on certain other days (Site in Czech)
• Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou-Šanov – Hevlín Railway 6.7km standard gauge line has been purchased by the municipality of Hevlín with the intention of creating a museum and tourist passenger sertvice (No website located at present)
• JHMD local passenger and freight services, also steam hauled tourist trains, over 79km of 760mm gauge line around Jindřichův Hradec
• KŽC local passenger services in various part of the country, railcar and steam hauled excursions, and the 4.5km standard gauge tourist railway between Česká Kamenice and the museums of Kamenický Šenov (Site in Czech)
• Kateřina Narrow Gauge Museum Railway from the Soos Museum in Nový Drahov to Kateřina, 1.8km. 600mm gauge, diesel hauled using former industrial equipment (Site mainly in Czech with some information in German)
• Kolín Sugar Beet Railway Sendražice, near Kolín, to Výrovna. Extension proposed to Býchory, a total distance of 4.5km. 700mm gauge, steam or diesel hauled using historic equipment. Operates weekends from May to September (Site mainly in Czech with some information in English)
• Mladějov Industrial Railway passenger and tourist railway between the Industrial Museum near the Czech Railways station in Mladějov na Moravě and Nová Ves u Kunčiny, about 6km. 600mm gauge, steam hauled. Operates most Saturdays and a few other days from May to September. Line is in situ for a further 5km from Nová Ves u Kunčiny to Hřebeč, but not in regular use (Site in Czech)
• Radvánovice Agricultural Railways private 600mm gauge railway with a collection of industrial locomotives and vehicles operating on about 200m of track, open to the public by prior arrangement. Contact: Josef Fajta, Radvánovická agrární železnice, Radvánovice 59, CZ 511 01 (No website located at present)
• Solvay Quarrying Museum in the Český Kras National Park, west of Praha. 600mm gauge railway about 1.2km in length, using former industrial equipment, usually diesel hauled, occasionally steam hauled. Operates Tuesdays to Sundays and public holidy Mondays, May to October. Museum is accessed on foot, by cycle, or on horseback from neighbouring villages, 2-3km (Site in Czech)
• SZD historic tourist trains on the line between Třemešná ve Slezsku and Osoblaha, about 20km. 760mm gauge, steam or diesel hauled
• Tanvlad Railway tourist and museum railway between Tanvald and Harrachov, about 12km. The 6.7km section between Tanvald and Kořenov is rack equipped, with gradients of up to 85%. Standard gauge, diesel hauled (Site in Czech)

Dreziny

Hand or pedal powered trolleys for hire on sections of old railway line.

• Pošumavská jižní dráha claimed to be the shortest international railway in the world, the 105m line from Nové Údolí crosses a stream to enter Germany for a short distance above the village of Haidmühle. Pedal powered trolleys or a replica steam locomotive pushed by hand (Site mainly in Czech with a small amount of information in German; for details of the railway click on “Železnice”)
• Ratíškovická železnice pedal powered trolleys on a 3km line from Ratíškovice (Site in Czech)
• Šlapací drezíny Mstětice pedal powered trolleys on a 5km section of former quarry railway from Mstětice, east of Praha (Site in Czech)
• MMCRPD annual pump action trolley race taking place on a 1.67km riverside route in Děčín

Industrial Railways

• ArcelorMittal Ostrava has an extensive internal rail network totalling almost 200km, with connections to the national network
• DT - Výhybkárna a strojírna railway pointwork and engineering plant at Prostějov near Olomouc has an operating internal metre gauge railway (Site contains no details relating to internal railway)
• Unex forging and casting facility in Olomouc has an operating internal 600mm gauge railway (Site contains no details relating to railway)
• Vlastimil Bělák the Bořinov brickworks at Ujčov has an operating internal 600mm gauge railway (No website located at present)
• Zlínské cihelny the Žopy brickworks at Holešov has an operating internal 600mm gauge railway (Site mainly in Czech with some information in Polish, contains no details relating to railway)

Miniature Railways

• Children’s Railway in Hradec Králové. Miniature railway about 430m in length. 127mm (5 inch) and 184mm (7¼ inch) gauge, steam or diesel hauled. Club railway open to the public most weekends from late April to October. (Site in Czech)
• Little Skalsko Railway private garden railway in Skalsko, near Mladá Boleslav. 7¼ inch (184mm) gauge, usually petrol hauled but occasional visiting locomotives. Open to the public on a few days during the year, or by prior arrangement
• Olympia Park Railway in Brno. Miniature railway about 1.4km in length. 127mm (5 inch) and 184mm (7¼ inch) gauge, steam or diesel hauled. Operates most weekends from May to October.
• Salon Expres in Polnička, near Žďár nad Sázavou, has a miniature railway. Steam outline diesel locomotive (Site in Czech)
• Union Pacific train in the Wild West Town theme park at Šiklův mlýn. Steam outline diesel locomotive (Site in Czech)
• Zásmucka Garden Railway private railway in Chvatliny, open to the public on certain days. About 4km of 300mm gauge track, mainly using restored or modified former industrial equipmemt (Site in Czech)

Metros, Trams and Funiculars

• Praha (Prague)
  • DPP metro, trams, historic tram route and the Petřín Funicular
  • NH Hotel has a monorail funicular connecting the main building on Mozartova with the Executive Block overlooking Mrázovka Park, for the use of residents and visitors to the hotel
• Brno trams
• Dlouhé Stráně the Pumped Storage Hydro Power Station has an underground funicular railway carrying employees from the control centre to the level of the storage lake. Not usually open to the public (Website contains no details relating to funicular)
• Karlovy Vary funiculars (Site in Czech)
• Liberec trams (Site in Czech)
• Most trams
• Olomouc trams, including historic vehicles available for private charter
• Ostrava trams
• Plzeň trams, including a historic vehicle available for private charter (Site in English and Czech, although some information is in Czech only)