The steam Albatross will be repaired by a private company. He will then be able to operate it for thirty years

“I am glad that a private investor has been found who has the opportunity to invest several tens of millions of crowns in the revival of the Czechoslovak steam legend, which has been standing motionless in the depot for twelve years. At a time when we have to consider every crown for investments in this non-commercial area, it would be very irresponsible to reject the offer of a private investor who wants to breathe new life into one of the biggest legends of the Czechoslovak railway industry,” said Jiří Ješeta, who is responsible for the Board of Directors of Czech Railways for the area of ​​passenger transport.

Czech Railways is one of the largest owners and operators of historic trains in Europe. Including wagons, they take care of a park of several hundred vehicles, dozens of which are in so-called operational condition and are located together with ordinary vehicles in depots. Non-operational exhibits can then be seen in Lužná near Rakovníka, the rest are located in a depository in Olomouc. With some exceptions, it is not normally accessible to the public.

Steam Story Agency has experience with the operation of the eighteen-ton locomotive Albatros 498.022. In 2007, the company made a steam express ride from Prague to Switzerland to Erstfeld with it – and also with locomotive Šlechtična 475.179 – to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Gotthard Railway. “That was completely unique, because Switzerland has been fully electrified since the 1930s, so they have almost no idea about steam there,” said company executive Lukáš Benda.

According to him, the Albatros will also travel abroad after the repair, in the Czech Republic it should be seen at least at events organized as part of Railway Day. At that time, Czech Railways will be able to borrow it back from the Steam Story Agency for the costs associated with the operation, according to the machine repair contract.

The problem is the fuse

However, paradoxically, the operation of steam and generally historic vehicles on Czech railways could be a big problem in the coming years. So far, it has not been satisfactorily resolved how to ensure the driving of these historical uniques in the environment of the so-called exclusive operation of ETCS. It is a modern train security device, which is to be introduced on the backbone lines next year and to be extended to the entire network in the following years. But the point is that it is expensive even for regular operation, the equipment of one locomotive exceeds the ten million mark, and a number of more modern vehicles than steam locomotives will soon be retired.

The railway administration does not want to grant exceptions. At the same time, it is not only a problem of nostalgic or excursion trains. for example, siding operators, whose shunting locomotives run on a closed infrastructure and only have to access the national network for regular maintenance or repairs, also complain. Even in this case, according to the current rules of the Railway Administration, they should be transported by a locomotive that will have ETCS.