Plzeň-Bavaria railway route to be upgraded after accident

The railway track between Plzeň and Bavaria, near the town of Domažlice, which was the sight of a railway accident earlier in August, will be upgraded with a double-track railway and electrified by the year 2029, Transport Minister Karel Havlíček said on Tuesday. The same upgrades will also be made on the German side, running from the country’s border with Czechia to the Bavarian city of Schwandorf, according to Mr Havlíček, who said that the improvements to the railway route have been officially agreed with Germany’s Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Andreas Scheuer.

Double railway track construction along the routes Prague-Beroun, Plzeň – Domažlice and Domažlice to the Bavarian border should begin in 2023. After the modernisation programme is finished, train speeds along the route are expected to reach up to 200 km/h.

Three people died in a railway accident that occurred on the track near Milavče on August 4, after the collision of a Czech and German train.