CZECHIA: Rail authority Drážní úřad has found deficiencies at open-access operator Leo Express after a series of state supervisions and required supplementary documentation by a deadline that runs out in the week beginning 31 August, after which it will decide on further steps. The operator has meanwhile postponed the return of its Talgo fleet again, to 7 September — no set has carried passengers since 31 July.
The supervisions covered Leo Express in its three roles as railway undertaking, vehicle keeper and entity in charge of maintenance (ECM), including a check of the ECM system in Bohumín, the authority said on 30 August.
The operator had planned to bring the first set back on 1 September. That date fell when an intruder broke into a guarded set parked in Bohumín and stole its interior electrical installation, Leo Express spokesman Emil Sedlařík said on 28 August — the second such incident after a window was smashed around the launch. The first set is now due back on 7 September on the Prague–Prešov route.
Second stoppage since April
The 1990s-built Talgo VI sets entered service on 30 April on the Prague–Bratislava and Prague–Prešov routes and were withdrawn by early July after repeated faults and heavy delays. They returned on the Bohumín–Prague route from 14 July, ran irregularly, and stopped entirely on 31 July without an end date.
Supervisions during the opening weeks of operation identified deficiencies the company was asked to remedy. Whether the current deadline concerns the same findings has not been confirmed.
Munich line from December
Modernised former Deutsche Bahn coaches are covering the services the Talgo sets were leased to run. The fleet plan is 13 Talgo sets alongside 59 of the coaches, which are to form the base of the Prague–Munich line the operator takes over in December.
The sets are leased from Spanish state operator Renfe, which owns half of Leo Express.