Czech rail rolls into 2026 with Scandinavian connection, better access to Austria

Czech Railways (ČD) announced Wednesday a major expansion of long-distance services for 2026, highlighted by the return of direct Prague–Copenhagen trains and extended routes into southern Austria.

The 2025/2026 timetable will include 8,723 passenger trains, with "blue trains" covering an average of 327,000 kilometers per day. Starting Dec. 14, group discounts will also make rail travel more attractive, part of ČD’s broader strategy to boost ridership.

Michal Krapinec, ČD CEO, said the rollout of new ComfortJet trains will “significantly enhance service quality on international and domestic routes.”

Enhanced long-distance lines will reconnect Czechia with Scandinavia, including Prague–Copenhagen service resuming in May 2026 after a 10-year hiatus, following the EU’s high-speed network announcement, which largely bypassed Prague.

From December, ComfortJet trains will run to Villach in southern Austria, near the Slovenian and Italian borders. Prague–Copenhagen service resumes in May, while Hamburg connections will also increase.

Prague–Berlin and Prague–Vienna services will run more frequently, with Hamburg extensions from May 2026. First-class Ampz cars will be added to the Slovácké expres, and additional air-conditioned cars to the Rožmberk and Labe express.

“We will deploy extra capacity on busy international lines, offering modern Railjet and ComfortJet trains not only to Austria and Germany but also to southern Slovakia and Hungary,” said Jiří Ješeta, ČD Deputy General Director for Passenger Transport.

Night services to Poland are also expanding. A new EuroNight Carpatia will run from Bohumín to Przemyśl, carrying direct carriages from Munich, Vienna, Prague, and Budapest. The Baltic Express to the Polish Tricity will also gain a Czech dining car.

Krapinec highlighted capacity boosts on the Prague–Brno line, with 14 daily ComfortJet and 16 Railjet connections. Regional services will receive new RegioFox units on routes such as Hradec Králové–Letohrad and Prague–Mělník/Mladá Boleslav starting mid-December.

Long-distance domestic travel will see two new InterCity Southern Express services and a late-evening Vltava train on the Prague–České Budějovice line. Departures from Linz, České Budějovice, and Tábor will leave about an hour later.

ČD will offer a 25 percent online discount for small groups of two to five passengers on domestic tickets from January through March, supporting the expanded network.

In 2024, ČD carried a record 168.8 million passengers, up 3 percent from 2023, adding 4.4 million travelers. Transport performance totaled 8.28 billion passenger-kilometers, with international routes seeing the strongest growth. Cross-border travel jumped 12 percent year-on-year.