photo: RAILTARGET/LIVE: Alternative drives on the Czech railway from the perspective of rolling stock manufacturers
The Ostrava morning at the RAIL BUSINESS DAYS 2023 conference was in the spirit of alternative drives on the Czech railway from the perspective of railway rolling stock manufacturers. Roman Kokšál, CEO of Siemens Mobility ČR, Tomáš Ignačák, President CZ/SK, Škoda Group, Krzysztof Zdziarski, CEO of PESA Bydgoszcz and Dan Kurucz, CEO of ALSTOM Czech Republic presented on behalf of their companies.
According to Roman Kokšál, CEO of Siemens Mobility ČR, hydrogen vehicles can travel significantly longer distances compared to battery vehicles. However, he says, such an advantage is fraught with challenges. Companies need to be able to not only manufacture the vehicles but also primarily power them.
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The International Railway Fair and Conference RAIL BUSINESS DAYS 2023 opened its doors today at the Trojhali Karolina in Ostrava. The conference was opened…
Tomáš Ignačák, President CZ/SK, Škoda Group, presented the new trends of BEMU and HEMU under the slogan "Low Emission Tomorrow." The new BEMU technology will extend the range and increase the number of battery cycles, but it is necessary to produce approximately 10% more energy to drive it than for the EMU (battery unit). The BEMU can be operated on the existing infrastructure of the Railway Administration, and partial investments in infrastructure can significantly expand further operational deployment. For the HMU and HEMU (hydrogen units), approximately three times more energy is required to be generated than when operating on an electrified line. However, there is a complete lack of infrastructure in the country, specifically refueling stations. Nevertheless, the high operating costs are partially eliminated in the case of HEMU deployment. Future infrastructure costs are expected to be high.
Krzysztof Zdziarski, General Manager of PESA Bydgoszcz, commented on the upcoming projects not only for Czech Railways, including new RegioFox units but also, for example, the new PROJECT RJ for RegioJet. He admitted that the company is working on double-deck locomotives in addition to low-floor locomotives and, like his predecessors, he mentioned the demonstration testing of hydrogen cars, which, in his words, looked very promising, and the company is more than satisfied with the results.
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The international rail trade fair and conference RAIL BUSINESS DAYS opens its doors today in the new premises of the Trojhalí Karolina in Ostrava.
Dan Kurucz, CEO of ALSTOM Czech Republic, began his presentation by saying, "It still makes sense to keep talking about alternative drives." ALSTOM is the only company currently operating hydrogen trains, and, in the words of the CEO, they are the only ones with both positive and negative experiences with hydrogen trains. "Hydrogen serves as an energy storage, so it is not necessarily true that you need to produce three times more energy," he said in response to the presentation by his counterpart from the Škoda Group. Furthermore, according to Dan Kurucz, it is not a problem to build filling stations for hydrogen trains, and he sees the problem with building them more in the administration and also in the conservativeness of the railway infrastructure.