photo: České drahy / Public domain/A train with the championship logo "Heart Of The Game."
The 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship is over so now it's time to reflect. The RAILTARGET editorial team was curious about the number of fans who traveled by train during the championship. According to a press release from Czech Railways, it was tens of thousands.
Hockey euphoria is sweeping through the Czech Republic. For the first time since 1985, the Czech national ice hockey team has won gold medals at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship held on home soil. Czech Railways, the official carrier of the championship, provided transportation for hockey teams, referees, organizers, and fans between the venues in Prague and Ostrava. Czech Railways' special hockey trains transported nearly 12,000 fans from all participating countries to the games in Prague and Ostrava, with an additional 80,000 people traveling on regular services, according to the press release from Czech Railways.
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Hockey: Transporting Fans, Referees, and Journalists by Rail
"It was an honor for Czech Railways to provide transportation for teams, officials, and fans throughout the World Championship," says Michal Krapinec, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Czech Railways. "During the group stage, we dispatched seven pairs of special SC Pendolino trains between Prague and Ostrava, and a special train for our quarterfinal match. In cooperation with colleagues from Slovakia, special trains from Košice also arrived in Ostrava. There was significant interest in these trains among fans, with almost 12,000 passengers using them," Krapinec adds. "We also noticed increased demand for travel on regular routes to Prague and Ostrava, with an average of approximately 6,000 more passengers daily compared to regular days. I want to thank all my colleagues in operations for handling this surge excellently and ensuring all fans reached their destinations safely."
Organizers and Officials
The editorial team was also intrigued to learn that, in addition to fans, Czech Railways provided comfortable transportation for referees and championship organizers, who traveled more than 180,000 kilometers between Prague and Ostrava during the preparations and the championship itself.
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CD Bus Transfers Teams and Journalists
The press release highlights that Czech Railways also focused on transfers. In addition to train transportation for fans and teams, Czech Railways provided transfers for hockey players between hotels and stadiums. The subsidiary company CD Bus, with its modern Iveco buses, handled daily transportation for teams and journalists to training sessions and games. CD Bus deployed a total of 18 buses and 36 drivers. In recent months, travelers at stations could see a specially wrapped Siemens Vectron locomotive, bearing the championship logo and the main motto "Heart Of The Game."