The Czech rail market is set to open up further to competition after the government’s approval of liberalisation plans on Wednesday, the Czech News Agency reported. According to information posted on the Office of the Government’s website, tender processes for the right to run services on five high-speed rail lines will be held by the end of 2021, Radio Praha writes. 

A planned competition for the line from Liberec to Pardubice has been put back from the timetable outlined in a previously published Ministry of Transport plan, while some of the originally mooted lines have also been replaced by other routes.

The ministry’s proposals were recently the target of criticism from the Czech Republic’s private rail services providers RegioJet, Leo Express and Arriva. They argued that the number of lines due to be made available in competitions was insufficient.

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