Meanwhile in Czechia... 28/25
25.07.2025
Old dining car to Prague partly until fall
The farewell to the beautiful old dining cars of Czech Railways České dráhy is getting closer and closer, but there is still one last deadline. From Saturday, July 26, all trains on the Eurocity line Prague-Dresden-Berlin-Hamburg will run exclusively with the modern ComfortJet carriages. In addition to a Siemens Vectron locomotive, they are also equipped with a control compartment at the other end of the train. They also have new dining cars, but these have fewer seats compared to the classic and very popular dining cars and for many also lack the old flair.
However, lovers of the old dining car can still enjoy the dignified atmosphere of the old carriages for a while on six train connections. These are the EC 259, EC 171 and EC 379 trains departing from Dresden Hauptbahnhof at 2.41 am, 9.10 am and 1.10 pm. Conversely, this applies to trains EC 378, EC 170 and EC 258 departing from Prague Central Station at 10.28, 16.28 and 20.28.
However, the reason for the exceptions is not a concession to the numerous fans of the old dining car, as Petr Šťáhlavský, spokesman for České dráhy, explains: "The Siemens - Škoda Group consortium has not yet delivered all the complete ComfortJet trains. These consist of nine carriages including the control compartment and dining car. Only the eight carriages with the locomotive and the old dining car are in operation on the connections mentioned. However, everything is going according to plan and they will be gradually added to the Prague-Berlin route by the fall, so that at some point in September only the new trains with new dining cars will be running."
České dráhy has ordered a total of 20 ComfortJet trains from Siemens - Škoda Group and is gradually converting its fleet. The first new trains could already be seen on the Prague-Berlin route last autumn, at that time still with a locomotive and old dining car. The first complete ComfortJet trains have also been running on this route since spring of this year. Incidentally, they not only look stylish, but also offer significantly more legroom than some old ICE trains, for example. In addition, special windows allow the mobile phone signal to pass through unhindered. All previous amenities such as a dedicated Wi-Fi network, power sockets and USB ports, some of which České dráhy offered long before Deutsche Bahn, will of course remain in place.
On Thursday, České dráhy trains ran to Flensburg, Kiel and Hamburg for the last time. Due to the modernization of the Berlin-Hamburg line, all trains will be rerouted for nine months. Passengers traveling to Hamburg will then have to change to other trains from Berlin, which will take an alternative route via Stendal and Uelzen to Hamburg. České dráhy trains will start and end in Berlin.
Incidentally, the good old dining cars will in future run on express trains on the Prague-Ostrava-Bohumín route in purely Czech long-distance services.
Hřensko lets more people into the Edmundsklamm Gorge
Edmund's Gorge has been open again for a week, so far only in trial operation for 50 people per day. However, the experience of the first week has been so good that the municipality of Hřensko, which owns the gorge, is now increasing the number of visitors to 120 a day. "We now have more staff available to accompany the groups," explained Mayor Horáková exclusively for this newsletter.
This is very good news for all those planning a trip to the gorge after the three-year closure. As expected, demand is high and tickets must be purchased at the tourist information office in the building of the local authority, which is located on Uferstraße on the Elbe. However, as the first few days showed, the 50 tickets sold out in no time at all. The relatively high price does not change this. Instead of 200 crowns (approx. 8 euros) as before the closure, the ride in the Edmundsklamm now costs 400 crowns (16 euros) in the two summer months. Out of season in the months of May, June, September and October, a ticket costs 350 crowns (14 euros).
On the first day last Saturday, the first visitor was already there at 6 am. The second visitors arrived at 7.20 am. The tourist information office opens daily at 8 am. The last people in the queue that had formed by then on Saturday left empty-handed. The only option then is to try again on another day. There is no advance sale. Online sales are also not possible. Under these conditions, all those who are already accommodated on site naturally have an advantage. Those coming from further away have to get up very early, but the municipality is planning to introduce an online reservation system. "We're working on it, but unfortunately I can't say whether we'll be able to do it this year," explains Mayor Horáková. Getting up early is also required during the week. "The tickets were usually sold out by 9 a.m.," continues Horáková. Incidentally, tickets can be paid for at the tourist information office by card or cash, as well as in crowns and euros.
If you are one of the lucky ones and have purchased one of the 120 personalized tickets per day, you will be allocated a specific time to meet the gorge guides. But be careful, the meeting point is not at the entrance to the gorge, but 300 meters further into the gorge. There is a lockable gate there. "Not that anyone waits at the entrance, that would be a shame. But everything is actually well explained at the tourist information office," assures the mayor.
She points out that 100 percent safety can still not be guaranteed. Visiting the gorge is entirely at your own risk. "We will observe how the gorge behaves and then evaluate all the data," says the mayor of Hřensko, Kateřina Horáková, with a view to a further increase in daily visitor numbers.
If all this is too complicated for you, there is still the Wild Gorge, which is open as normal but can only be reached by taking a detour via Mezná or Růžová. The ride in the Wild Gorge is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm and costs only 200 crowns (8 euros) per person.
Fewer falcon offspring in Bohemian Switzerland
Only eleven young falcons were born in nests in Bohemian Switzerland or in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. That is the poor result of this year's breeding season. It was not improved by the eagle owl (two young) and the black stork (1 young). However, as in previous years, humans were not to blame this time. The national park would like to thank visitors for their consideration. The national park imposes a ban on entering sensitive areas during the breeding season, which was observed this year.
However, most of the clutches and young were victims of the cold spring (clutches) and predators (clutches and young) this year. No other reasons are known. In the case of the eagle owls, only two nests were used at all, in each of which one young was reared. Other nesting sites from previous years remained unoccupied.
The access ban will remain in force until the end of July.
Social Democrats run together with Communists
The Czech Social Democrats have joined the joint electoral list Stačilo! (Enough is enough!) for the autumn parliamentary elections. This electoral alliance, which consists mainly of representatives of the Communist Party, has already celebrated its first successes in the European elections and the district elections last year. Stačilo! also ranks well above the 5 percent threshold in the polls for the parliamentary elections. The Social Democrats Socdem (formerly ČSSD) are a different story. Despite a change of name and new party leadership, the party has not managed to get above 3 percent in the polls. The party has therefore decided to join the Stačilo! candidate list, with the Social Democrats being the smaller partner.
Both sides are celebrating the project as a strong left front. Critics recall the forced unification of German Social Democracy with the Communist Party in the eastern part of Germany after 1945, which later became the GDR. Before 1989, the Social Democratic Party was banned in Czechoslovakia. Social Democracy is the oldest party in the Czech Republic with a history of over 130 years. It provided the prime minister until 2017 and was in government for 16 years between 1998 and 2021. In 2021, like the Communist Party, it fell well short of the 5% threshold.
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