Twenty-Three Units Short of Fifty-Seven: ČD Changes How It Schedules Repairs After Central Bohemia Threatens Maximum Penalties

České dráhy has set out what it will change after a second round of short trains on Prague's commuter network, and the list is mostly about maintenance paperwork rather than rolling stock. Expats.cz, reporting ČTK, published the measures on 7 October.

The shortfall behind them is specific. On Monday the operator had 23 CityElefant units out of service; it says it needs 57 for normal daily operation around Prague. Five RegioPanter trains were missing as well. The consequence was visible on the platform: some peak-hour services ran with one three-car unit where two are normally scheduled, which halves the seats on the busiest trains of the day. A similar shortage happened in September.

ČD attributes the absences to technical faults, the scheduled installation of ETCS, vandalism, collisions with wildlife and other incidents. That mix matters, because only some of it is within the operator's control and the remedies announced address the part that is.

What actually changes

The carrier says fewer trains will be out of service from the day of the announcement, following talks with Prague and the Central Bohemian Region. Behind that are four process changes:

• A second check when repairs are scheduled, and some work that was previously carried out separately is now combined.
• Managers may postpone minor scheduled maintenance by one day, where the legal safety limits allow it.
• More workers and more maintenance tracks at the depots.
• Two trains that have been out of service long-term are expected back by the end of 2026.

Two further measures are aimed at passengers rather than at the fleet. ČD will check twice a day how many trains are available for the afternoon peak and the following morning's, and if a morning service is going to run short, it will post that after 6 p.m. the previous evening in the Můj vlak app and its other systems, and pass it to PID Lítačka. And when a train is overcrowded, staff may let second-class passengers use the first-class areas.

The money behind the threat

The Central Bohemian Region, which orders and pays for much of the service, threatened the maximum contractual penalties and called for immediate stabilisation. The figures give that threat its weight: ČD paid 46 million crowns in penalties to Prague and Central Bohemia for missed standards last year, and a further 31 million crowns was imposed in the first half of 2026. Half a year has already cost two thirds of a full year.

A fleet problem answered with a scheduling answer

Read together, the measures are a sensible response to the wrong problem. Combining maintenance visits, adding a second check on the repair plan and opening another maintenance track all raise the number of units available on a given morning — at the margin. None of them changes the arithmetic that 57 units are needed and the fleet cannot reliably produce them while ETCS fitting continues. Two trains returning by the end of the year is the only measure that adds vehicles, and two is not 23.

The twice-daily availability check is the most honest item on the list, because it does not pretend to fix the shortage. It tells a commuter the evening before that tomorrow's train will be half the usual length. That is worth having, and it is also an admission that the short trains are expected to continue.