Export of Škoda battery trains to Slovakia may move forward after a framework agreement signed by Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko (ŽSSK) with Škoda Group, as the manufacturer said in a Škoda Group press release.

Export of Škoda battery trains to Slovakia — ŽSSK deal
Photo: Škoda Group

The deal covers up to 36 two-car contact-battery trains with a total value of €332m; ŽSSK intends to place a first order for 14 units (up to €144m) in 2026.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Export of Škoda battery trains: ŽSSK deal terms

If implemented, the agreement would give Škoda Group its first export order for contact-battery trains, and such trains would appear in Slovakia for the first time. ŽSSK plans to gradually replace diesel rolling stock used in intercity services with the new sets; similar plans were previously discussed in a Railway Supply article.

According to ŽSSK’s plan, the switch should remove the need for transfers on routes where electrified sections alternate with non-electrified parts of the network.

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Škoda Panter contact-battery trains: specifications

The partially low-floor two-car trains will be designed on the Panter platform. In battery mode, they are expected to reach speeds of up to 120 km/h with a range of at least 80 km, and a stated capacity of 157 passengers.

When powered from the overhead line, the maximum speed will be 160 km/h. The batteries can be charged at charging stations, from the overhead line, and through regenerative braking.

ŽOS Trnava and the consortium’s RegioPanter track record

Part of the manufacturing work is planned to take place in Slovakia: local repair-and-manufacturing company ŽOS Trnava will be involved as Škoda’s partner in a consortium under the agreement. This consortium format has been used before — over the past 10 years it has delivered several dozen multiple-unit vehicles to Slovakia, including RegioPanter-platform EMUs.

In those deliveries, cab cars, traction motors and bogies were produced at Škoda Group facilities, while intermediate-car assembly and final train assembly were carried out at the ŽOS Trnava site.

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