markskoda
Member
At my local station a basic price per kilometre for second class travel is displayed on the wall. Currently 1.25 Czech Crowns. Approx 5 pence. This applies to any journey within the Czech Republic for one way travel. First class is 50% on top. A day return is valid from time of purchase to departures before midnight on the following day. You can therefore stay away overnight.
There are no peak fares. The timetable with just a handful of exceptions is the same on workdays and weekends and has been for 60 years. One can purchase a discount card giving 25%, 50% or 100% off all fares for a year. Called Inkarta it is available to all who pay the appropriate sum when applying. Children's fares are 50% of adult. There is a scheme called "Kilometricka Banka" on top of all fares where the passenger gets extra free travel according to kilometres clocked up over a year via swipe card.
Pendolino trains from Prague eastwards to Ostrava incur a small surcharge.
It's all so delightfully clear and easy compared to the complexity of booking in The U.K.
I have tried all the U.K. rail booking services for a variety of journeys and never found a saving of 5% let alone the claimed percentages. 43% and 51% for Trainline and Redspottedhanky respectively.
The Czech Rail timetable gives elapsed distances between stations and the tickets give the length of your journey. Trains are very clean if somewhat old fashioned but the whole network is undergoing massive modernisation.
All in all a better "offering" than in the U.K. The only gimmick or promotion I have seen is a twice yearly promotion with Lidl for a low priced ticket for any distance within CZ on public holidays.
It's a state run network characterised by feeder services from intermediate fast line stations by railcar to outlying communities. (Mountain areas by bus)
Beeching in reverse!
There are no peak fares. The timetable with just a handful of exceptions is the same on workdays and weekends and has been for 60 years. One can purchase a discount card giving 25%, 50% or 100% off all fares for a year. Called Inkarta it is available to all who pay the appropriate sum when applying. Children's fares are 50% of adult. There is a scheme called "Kilometricka Banka" on top of all fares where the passenger gets extra free travel according to kilometres clocked up over a year via swipe card.
Pendolino trains from Prague eastwards to Ostrava incur a small surcharge.
It's all so delightfully clear and easy compared to the complexity of booking in The U.K.
I have tried all the U.K. rail booking services for a variety of journeys and never found a saving of 5% let alone the claimed percentages. 43% and 51% for Trainline and Redspottedhanky respectively.
The Czech Rail timetable gives elapsed distances between stations and the tickets give the length of your journey. Trains are very clean if somewhat old fashioned but the whole network is undergoing massive modernisation.
All in all a better "offering" than in the U.K. The only gimmick or promotion I have seen is a twice yearly promotion with Lidl for a low priced ticket for any distance within CZ on public holidays.
It's a state run network characterised by feeder services from intermediate fast line stations by railcar to outlying communities. (Mountain areas by bus)
Beeching in reverse!
