Czech Railways to Increase Ticket Prices

The largest rail carrier in the Czech Republic, České dráhy, has announced an increase in average fares of 15% starting December 11.

The company attributed the price increase to rising energy costs in the Czech Republic. This is the sharpest increase in the last fifteen years.

Tickets at current prices will be available until December 10 with a deferred validity of up to two months. For people who use trains regularly, this means being able to use the old fares until early February.

“We are trying to keep the price increase below the level of inflation even though the costs, which are critical for rail transport, have risen much more than that,” Frantisek Emelka of the Czech Ministry of Transport told IDNES.

With the new prices, the cost of a 10-kilometer ticket will increase by 4 crowns to 31 crowns. Up to 45 km will go up by 12 crowns – up to 92 crowns, while up to 100 km will go up by 25 crowns – to 188 crowns.

The price of the so-called “Ticket for Summer” – a pass that allows passengers to travel without restrictions around the country – will also increase significantly. It will go up from 890 crowns to 1390 crowns for a week, and from 1290 crowns to 1990 crowns for two weeks.

The price of carrying a dog will also be raised – the cheapest ticket will now cost 30 crowns (instead of 15 crowns), but the allowed distance will increase from 50 to 150 km.

Year-on-year inflation in the Czech Republic reached 18 percent in September, according to data published Wednesday by the Czech Statistical Office (CSU).

While the previous month saw the first dip in inflation for more than a year, it grew by 0.8 percent in September, reaching the highest year-on-year rate since December 1993.

In year-on-year terms, rising food and energy prices remained the major causes of inflation. Flour prices, for example, jumped 64.1 percent from last year.