ZSSK: Bratislava-Zurich Rail Transport in Less Than 10 Hours

Bratislava, December 6 (TASR) - Railway passengers will be able to travel from Bratislava to Zurich in less than 10 hours without changing trains, which amounts to a significant improvement on the path to a more frequent and quicker connection with the West, general director of the state-owned railway carrier ZSSK announced at an unveiling of Railjet Xpress in co-operation with Austrian carrier OBB on Thursday. Railjet Xpress with a top speed of 230 km/h will start operating as of December 9, 2018. The train will be made up of Austrian Viaggio Comfort set. "Raijet Xpress also represents enormous experience for ZSSK train drivers, who underwent training at an OBB training centre. The conditions for acquiring the certificate to control the locomotive of the 1116 class is the same as for Austrian train drivers. Our employees had to demonstrate their capacity to drive the train at manufacturer's maximum speed," said the director. "There are 30 train connections operated between Bratislava and Vienna and we want to extend this amount. As of 2023, we're planning to speed up the Bratislava-Vienna connection markedly, based on partial extension of the railway line into a two-track format, thus reducing travel times from 60 minutes to 40," claimed OBB-Personenverkehrs AG member of the board Michaela Huberova. The presentation ceremony was attended by Slovak Ambassador to Austria Peter Misik and Austrian Ambassador to Slovakia Helfried Carl, who both underlined the importance of transport connections in bolstering mutual economic co-operation and bringing inhabitants of both countries closer together. mf/mcs/tz