Our country’s first electrified railway line will host historic train services on Saturdays during the summer holidays until 29 August. Among the vehicles operating these services is the Křižík electric railcar EM 400.001, known as Elinka, from the collections of the National Technical Museum (NTM).
The Summer on the Bechyně Line event is organized by Czech Railways. Since 4 July, two pairs of special trains have been running on Saturdays, with the Křižík electric railcar known as Elinka in service. The vehicle is an operational exhibit of the National Technical Museum. Elinka departs from Tábor at 9:18 a.m. and 1:18 p.m., returning from Bechyně at 11:25 a.m. and 3:25 p.m.
In Bechyně, visitors can tour the restored railway depot (from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on 4, 11, 18 and 25 July and 1, 22 and 29 August). On display are a model railway layout and the historic electric locomotive E 225.001, known as the Koloběžka (“Scooter”), which is also part of the NTM collections.
Detailed information about the train services can be found here.
The electric railcar M 400.001, nicknamed Elinka, is the oldest electrically powered railway vehicle in the Czech Republic. It was built in 1903 for the very first electrified railway line in what is now the Czech Republic, running from Tábor to Bechyně. The project was initiated by Czech inventor and entrepreneur František Křižík. Only two railcars were built for the start of operations in 1903; two more were later supplied by the František Ringhoffer company in Smíchov. They were subsequently fitted with electrical equipment by František Křižík’s company. The railcars were equipped with four motors, each driving one axle. The maximum permitted speed on the line was 30 km/h. Railcar M 400.001 was originally numbered No. 1 and, by a fortunate coincidence, is the only one to have survived. It remained in regular service for an incredible seventy years, from 1903 to 1973, and has been part of the collection of the National Technical Museum since 1974.
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