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The authenticity of the monument takes precedence, the Slovenská strela will not be equipped with a security system

The unified European ETCS system can automatically stop or slow down the train in the event of a driver error. Currently, it must be installed on all trains running on the lines Česká Třebová – Olomouc – Dluhonice – Prosenice/Přerov and Břeclav – Bohumín. From January 15, ETCS will also be mandatory on the route Česká Třebová – Adamov, Modřice – Břeclav, and from January 22 on the route Praha-Běchovice – Pardubice – Česká Třebová. The total is 622 kilometers. In 2040, ETCS will be required on all railway lines in the Czech Republic.

Even though ETCS is mandatory, Tatra is not considering equipping the Slovak Missile with it. And this despite the fact that it continues to count on its operation during exceptional events. “It is necessary to realize that it is a historical vehicle and a national cultural monument. One of the values ​​of the monument is its authenticity. That’s why there are no plans to install ETCS in Slovak Strela,” confirmed the car company’s spokesman Andrej Čírtek.

Slovak shot

Slovenská strela is a four-axle motor car manufactured in 1936 in the Kopřivnice Tatra. Of the two pieces of the car marked T 68, which covered the route between Bratislava and Prague in 3 hours and 20 minutes, only one survived. The legendary train has been dilapidated for years. Seven years ago, the Tatra automobile company had it renovated, and from autumn 2021, the Slovenská strela is part of the new Tatra Truck Museum in Kopřivnice, where it is displayed in a separate pavilion.

He pointed out that due to the status of a national cultural monument, the Slovenská strela has legislative rules for its operation. “These are basically limited to trips to the place of prescribed maintenance, periodic service inspections and, exceptionally, to events related to the history of the railway based on permission from the authorities,” he outlined, noting that last year the unique machine only went to Vsetín for the unveiling of the monument to designer Josef Sousedík and to Ostrava for the railway technology fair.

“On tracks where safety devices will not be needed, the projectile can go by itself. If there is a need to move along a track where a security device is required, then it will be accompanied by another machine that will have this device,” explained Čírtek about the possibility of operating the monument on regular tracks.

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Economy

According to the Ministry of Transport, the obligation to have ETCS installed applies to all trains. “Otherwise, the introduction of exclusive ETCS operation would be pointless from the point of view of safety,” pointed out Alena Mühl from the Department of Communications of the Ministry of Transport.

However, she admitted that in the case of historic vehicles, their operation should be possible even on tracks with ETCS under certain conditions without the security system. “We are working on the development of a plug-in ETCS car that could be connected to unequipped historical vehicles and ensure the running of such a train under the full supervision of ETCS,” she said.

She did not say how many historical railway vehicles could use the connecting ETCS car. The Railway Office registers about 50 vehicles in the country with the status of historical railway vehicle. “However, the total number of vehicles that have ever been assigned the registration number of a historic vehicle is much higher,” pointed out the spokeswoman of the Railway Authority, Pavlína Straková, with the fact that, overall, the authority has 15 operating steam locomotives, 18 electric locomotives and 90 motor locomotives of various series under historical numbers. .