This just in…
The last out of the seven Italian-made Pendolino trains that were sold to the Czech Republic for 4.3 billion CZK (150 million EUR/180 million USD) and out of which five were pompously introduced last month, stopped running today. The others broke down a couple weeks ago. Didn’t last very long. They came, they served, they died. The cause? Software failure.
As reported on the ČT24 news station, the passengers who boarded the last functioning Pendolino train in Prague this morning joined all the others who were not taken to their destinations. Instead of arriving in a supercity, they arrived at the outskirts of a village where, in freezing temperatures, they were herded onto other, not-so-fancy trains. So much for a great entrée.
České dráhy (Czech Railways) is not to blame here. The four defective trains have been returned to the manufacturer and the fifth one will undoubtedly follow. In addition, a hefty fine will supposedly be demanded from ALSTOM.
We’ve written about the Pendolino in two other blog posts (Nov. 1 and Jan. 4) and in our January newsletter.
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