Intercity Express is a high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands as part of cross-border services. It is the flagship of the German state railway, Deutsche Bahn. ICE fares are fixed for station-to-station connections, on the grounds that the trains have a higher level of comfort. Travelling at speeds up to 320 km/h (200 mph), they are aimed at business travellers and long-distance commuters and marketed by Deutsche Bahn as an alternative to flights.
The Siemens Desiro is a family of diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, Desiro ML, Desiro UK and the later Desiro City, Desiro HC and Desiro RUS. The trains are mostly used for commuter and regional services, and their rapid acceleration makes them suitable for services with short distances between stations. The design is flexible, and has become common in many European countries.
České dráhy, often shortened to ČD, is the major railway operator in the Czech Republic providing regional and long-distance services.
The AGV is a standard gauge, high-speed, electric multiple-unit train designed and built by Alstom.
A control car, cab car, control trailer, or driving trailer is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or two driver compartments with all the controls and gauges required to remotely operate the locomotive, including exterior locomotive equipment such as horns, bells, ploughs, and lights. They also have communications and safety systems such as GSM-R or European Train Control System (ETCS). Control cars enable push-pull operation when located on the end of a train opposite its locomotive by allowing the train to reverse direction at a terminus without moving the locomotive or turning the train around.
The Class 471 electric motor unit, commonly known as CityElefant, is a double deck electric multiple unit operating on 3 kV DC overhead wires produced by Škoda Vagonka, a subsidiary of Škoda Transportation, since 1997 and operated by the České dráhy rail transit operator on its suburban services around Prague and Ostrava, Czech Republic. A single unit consists of a Class 471 power car with first class seating, a single Class 071 passenger car and a Class 971 cab car. They are replacement for defunct ČD Class 451, and successor to scrapped ČD Class 470.
Railjet is a high-speed rail service in Europe operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Czech Railways (ČD). Branded as Railjet Express (RJX) for the fastest services and as Railjet (RJ) for services with additional stops, it was introduced in 2008 and operates at speeds of up to 230 km/h (143 mph). Railjet is ÖBB's premier service and operates both domestically within Austria and on international services to adjacent major cities in the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary and Slovakia.
The City Airport Train (CAT) is an express airport rail link train that connects Vienna International Airport and Vienna city center in 16 minutes without intermediate stops.
The Vectron is a locomotive series made by Siemens Mobility, introduced at the 2010 InnoTrans trade fair in four prototype versions: diesel, multi-system, and both AC and DC electric power. The diesel version has been replaced in 2018 by a dual mode locomotive which is powered by electricity on electrified sections of the track and can be switched to diesel mode on non-electrified sections. The Vectron series is reconfigurable and modular, with a Bo'Bo' wheel arrangement, and is intended as the successor to the EuroSprinter family of locomotives. A more affordable, basic version called Smartron was introduced in 2018.
The Class 380 is a tri-voltage electric locomotive manufactured by Škoda for Czech railways České dráhy.
RegioJet a.s. is a private Czech provider of passenger rail and bus transport. The company Student Agency, owned by Czech businessman Radim Jančura, is the sole owner. A sister company of the same name, with its registered office in Bratislava, is an operator of passenger rail and bus transport in Slovakia.
ICE 4 is a brand name for long-distance Intercity-Express high-speed trains being procured for Deutsche Bahn.
The Vindobona is an international named passenger train which began service in 1957 between Berlin and Vienna via Dresden and Prague. In later years the route was extended to run from Hamburg via Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Brno and Vienna to Villach. It was named after the ancient settlement of Vindobona on the site of the modern city of Vienna. Labelled as a EuroCity train connection from 1993, services discontinued in 2014.
High-speed rail in the Czech Republic is being planned with construction starting in 2026 and maximum speed between 200 and 320 km/h. Although České Dráhy owns and operates multiple rolling stock capable of speeds of 230 km/h (143 mph) since 2004, there is, as of 2023, no infrastructure capable of velocity over 200 km/h (124 mph). The only exception is the 13.3-kilometre long track at Velim railway test circuit with a maximum allowed speed of 230 km/h (143 mph) for tilting trains and up to 210 km/h (130 mph) for conventional trains. Czech rolling stock manufacturer Škoda Transportation has produced high-speed rolling stock since the 1970s.
Škoda 7Ev is an electric multiple unit produced by Škoda Transportation. The trainset was developed at the order of the České dráhy in 2011.
Nightjet is a brand name given by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) to its overnight passenger train services.
Siemens Venture is a type of locomotive-hauled passenger railroad car built by Siemens Mobility for the North American market. The cars are derived from the Siemens Viaggio Comfort cars used in Europe, with adaptations for North American operations. The cars entered service with Brightline in 2018 and with Amtrak Midwest in 2022. They have also been ordered by Amtrak for national and other state-supported routes, Via Rail, and Ontario Northland. The Venture cars will also be used on Amtrak’s Airo trainsets.
ComfortJet is a high-speed push-pull train which is being built by Siemens Mobility and Škoda Transportation for the Czech train operator České dráhy and it is planned to start operations from 2024. Based on the Railjet, Siemens developed its Vectrain train family. It will operate at speeds of up to 230 km/h and will replace old carriages on international EuroCity services between the Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary and on domestic InterCity services in the Czech Republic.
Siemens Vectrain is a family of locomotive-hauled push-pull trains built by Siemens Mobility. The Vectrain consists of a Vectron locomotive and Viaggio Comfort coaches or other coaches certified by Siemens. The last coach can be a control car, which has a cabin identical to Vectron locomotives. The trains are mostly used for InterCity and EuroCity services.
