Overview

• Bavaria’s Eisenbahngesellschaft and the Czech transport ministry will issue a joint tender by end-2025 and aim to award the contract in the first half of 2027 for trains entering service from December 2031 through December 2046.
• Interim agreements will deploy used rolling stock from December 2028 until the new fleet is delivered in late 2031 to ensure uninterrupted operations.
• The revised procurement terms will cut operating costs by altering shunting procedures, staffing requirements and onboard catering to attract at least two bidders.
• Persistent infrastructure challenges—non-electrified sections, three different electrical systems and single-track bottlenecks—contributed to just 43.7 percent of trains running on time in 2024.
• Both governments plan to seek additional federal and European Union funding to upgrade the corridor as a strategic cross-border link.