Who we are
CEDOP – the Centre for Efficient Transport – is a think tank of transport experts seated in Prague, Czech republic. We are devoting to the promotion of sustainable and efficient transport with emphasis on railway as the most efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transport. We are registered as a consulting organisation for the Czech Public Administration and as an interest organisation at the European Commission. The Centre is a non-profit, politically neutral organisation associating experts dedicated to the development of public and railway transport. The association has been founded on 23rd September 2009.
Our mission is to transfer the best practice from the countries with developed transport systems to the environment of the Czech republic. The main areas we are focusing on are the well-developed systems of municipal transport, suburban rail, high speed rail systems, multimodal systems, as well as the issues of tariff policy and integrated periodic timetable. We provide consultant and planning services, we organize conferences and study trips, and we publish books on the topic.
Completed projects
In May 2011, we organized a conference „High Speed Rail 2011 – Reasons and Benefits“ in the Senate of the Czech parliament. The conference was devoted to the problem of high speed railway construction in the Czech republic and featured presentations from the most high speed rail
infrastructure and operator companies in the world. At this conference, several high ranking state officials have stressed the necessity to build high speed lines in the country; together with Mr. Petr Žaluda, the Director General of Czech Railways, who said that high speed lines are absolutely inevitable if there is to be any development in the country’s railway sector. It was the first time such clear and urgent call for high speed lines was heard in the Czech republic. The conference started a debate in the Czech media about the high speed rail.
In April 2011, we organized a presentation journey for the Czech decision-makers on the lines of Prague railway node. The aim was to show the decision-makers the weak points and narrow throats of today’s Prague’s suburban lines, along with some of the lines that are currently used for freight transport only but which could be successfully exploited for passengers by implementing them into the network of municipal and suburban trains.
In 2010, we published a book named “Suburban Railway, the Backbone of Transport in Agglomerations”, which presents the suburban railway systems of major European cities. Their design uses tunnels underneath the city centres, enabling the commuters to reach the centre quickly using the direct suburban trains. A similar solution for Prague is presented as well, demonstrating its advantages for municipal transport in Prague and its vicinity.
Ongoing projects
The High Speed Rail Encyclopedia
We are currently creating an encyclopedical publication that would overview the current state of the world’s high speed railways in as much detail as possible. Each country that operates high speed trains will be given a separate chapter describing the historical evolution of their high speed network, data about the tracks and vehicles used including their historical costs, ridership numbers, current tariff policies and extension plans. The second half of the book will deal with the possible design of the future Czech high speed rail and its benefits for each of the 14 regions of the Czech republic. The book is expected to come out in Autumn 2011.
The Swiss Experience Transfer
In the framework of the Swiss Partnership funds, we are preparing a study tour for the Czech parliament members and the representatives of regional authorities to Switzerland to get personally acquainted with the Swiss complex state-of-the-art public transport system. The participants will attend the lectures at the most important Swiss transport organizations such as BAV, VÖV, SBB and ZVV, and experience the preciseness and the absolute integration of transport in that country. Journey participants will also visit the sites of major transport projects‘ construction. A more technically-oriented tour is planned for the experts from the Czech rail infrastructure manager.
Designing the Future
High Speed Rail
CEDOP is the most pronounced promoter of high speed rail network construction in the Czech republic. We believe that a dedicated track for speeds ranging from 200 to 350 km/h can offer not only greater comfort, speed and competitiveness of passenger transport, but may also enlarge the capacity of freight transport by relieving the existing conventional lines from the long-distance passenger trains. The benefits brought by a high speed line come for a relatively low price compared to the price of highway construction, and with the electric traction, this solution is unbeatable regarding its impact on environment. Also, the energy consumption of aerodynamic trainsets running at a stable high speed is much lower than the consumption of conventional medium-speed trainsets that change their speed frequently. All these factors make the high speed rail construction a very sound decision, both fiscally and politically – a decision to create them has raised the voter support in every country. Our mission is to acquaint the Czech decision makers with the benefits High Speed Rail can bring to the country, its inhabitants, and its economy.
Municipal and suburban passenger transport
CEDOP believes that further integration of railways into the systems of city public transport is inevitable, in Prague as well as other Czech cities. It would mean an efficient and comfortable way of connecting the very centres of towns with their suburban areas. New stations‘ locations, better interconnection between the train and the metro (as well as other modes of city transport), the benefits of underground trains in the city centre, routing and tariff integration policy – these are the most important topics in the issue of municipal rail transport.
Multimodal freight transport
CEDOP also devotes to the development of freight transport, with emphasis on multimodal transport. We are preparing a conference “Barriers in freight rail development” which will present examples of the best practice from abroad to the decision-makers, and will discuss and scrutinize the obstacles that avoid their implementation in the Czech republic.
Cooperation with CEDOP
The projects of CEDOP are an excellent opportunity for the presentation of rail and construction companies from all over the world. The materials, conferences and publications we prepare are the first and unique in the environment of today’s Czech republic. Until now, the conferences and seminars on the topic of modern and sustainable rail were held for rail experts only, but there was no involvement of the decision-makers in the process of foreign experience transfer. By organizing study trips and conferences aimed directly at the decision-makers, we are changing their approach towards the modern transport solutions, and raising political interest in the matter. As a result, we are enlarging markets in the Czech republic and even creating new ones – for example in high-speed segment.
Among others, we have cooperated with Alstom, Siemens, Škoda, Stadler, Leonhard Weiss, Skanska, Metrostav or Subterra.
People
Petr Šlegr (born 1977) had been appointed as a Deputy Minister of Transport of the Czech republic and a Chairman of Steering Committee of the Czech Railways (České dráhy) in 2007-2009. Under his leadership a concept of a new law concerning public transport services including transport services planning was proposed. Next he prepared high-speed and modernised railway lines conception for the Czech republic and starte inter-governmental works on a new railway connection between Prague and Dresden, He had been Deputy Director General of Czech Railway Infrastructure Manager (SZDC) in 2012-2013.
Petr Šlegr is the director of the Centre