České dráhy

České dráhy (ČD) is the Czech Republic's largest rail carrier, running regional, long-distance and international trains across Central Europe.

České dráhy essentials before you book

ČD carries almost two hundred years of railway operation behind it, and for most visitors it is the first operator to check for travel between Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc, Plzeň and the border crossings towards Austria, Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

The safest booking habit is short: search the ČD e-shop or the Můj vlak app, check whether the cheap fare you are offered is tied to one specific train, and check whether that train needs a compulsory seat reservation before you pay. Those two checks prevent most of the problems travellers report on Czech trains.

ČD sells tickets through its e-shop at cd.cz, the mobile site m.cd.cz, the Můj vlak (My Train) app, station ticket offices, some ticket machines and, in limited circumstances, the conductor on board. Fares are quoted in Czech koruna (CZK).

Three domestic fare families cover most journeys. The Flexi Ticket is the standard one-way fare, priced only by the distance travelled, valid for one journey on any ČD train, and available in both 2nd and 1st class. The Flexi Discounted Ticket keeps that flexibility at a lower price on selected city pairs, is aimed mainly at long-distance travel and can only be bought in 2nd class. The Ticket with an Obligatory Train, sold as the Fixed ticket and known in Czech as vázaná jízdenka, is the cheapest option for a given route, is sold one-way in 2nd class only, and can be bought online only.

The classic mistake is taking the cheapest fare without noticing what it is. A Fixed ticket is bound to a specific train, printed on the ticket as the mandatory train. The rule is less brutal than it sounds: once you have completed the leg on that prescribed train you may transfer to any other train, and if you miss a connection or your prescribed train runs 30 minutes late or more, you are allowed to use another connection. Fixed tickets do not cover intra-regional journeys on regional (Os) and regional fast (Sp) trains in the Zlín, Pilsen, South Moravian and Moravian-Silesian regions.

The České dráhy network and train types

The train category decides your comfort, your reservation obligation and often your fare, so identify it before booking rather than sorting only by arrival time.

SC Pendolino is the fastest ČD service, running the SuperCity route linking Ostrava, Olomouc, Pardubice, Prague, Plzeň and Cheb in 1st and 2nd class. Reservations are required on these trains. Railjet covers Brno and Prague with direct continuation to Vienna and Graz, and offers three classes: Economy Class as 2nd class, First Class, and Business Class. ComfortJet and InterJet are the newer sets, with InterJet working Prague and western Bohemia.

For longer domestic hops, InterCity (IC) trains connect the main Czech cities and EuroCity (EC) trains handle international routes, both stopping only at the more important stations. Fast (R) trains link cities and regions at a slower pace, while regional fast (Sp) and regional (Os) trains reach smaller towns and villages and carry the fewest onboard services.

ČD also runs sleeper and couchette carriages jointly with partner carriers, reaching Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary, with destinations including Bratislava, Košice, Poprad, Kraków, Warsaw, Budapest, Zurich, Basel and Innsbruck. Two specialist services are worth knowing: the Airport Express bus links Prague's main station with Václav Havel Airport, and the automobile train carries cars and motorcycles alongside their owners.

Booking on the ČD website and app

Using the ČD journey planner

The ČD planner does more than list departures, and the filters are where the useful decisions get made. You can restrict results to direct connections only, cap the number of changes, set a minimum and maximum transfer time, and choose whether to accept trains from partner carriers or ČD trains only. One filter matters more than the rest for nervous bookers: you can ask for trains without a compulsory reservation.

You can also filter by the onboard facilities you actually need, including bicycle carriage, a children's compartment, wheelchair spaces, refreshments, the car train, a quiet compartment, sleeper and couchette carriages, a women's compartment, power sockets and Wi-Fi. Before a long trip, check the ČD operational restrictions page as well, which lists planned closures such as track repairs and extraordinary events such as power failures.

Buying a ticket online

The Můj vlak app sells tickets without registration and takes card payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay. The ticket is a QR code covering the whole booked connection and every passenger on it, which you show to the conductor. The app also pushes notifications for the arrival platform and track, for delays and for route changes.

Seat reservations are free of charge when you book through the ČD e-shop or the app, with the exception of trains and compartments where reservation is compulsory. On those, the reservation must be bought together with the ticket. Reserving is still worth doing on any long-distance train even when it is optional.

ČD ticket types and discounts

Age-based discounts are generous and apply in 2nd class. Children under 6 travel free, and children and juniors under 18 travel at half price. Pupils and students from 18 to 25 also receive 50 per cent off the regular fare, with a confirmed pupil or student card or an ISIC. Passengers aged 65 and over get 50 per cent with nothing more than an ID card. Holders of a Czech ZTP or ZTP/P disability card receive a 75 per cent discount, valid in 2nd class on all trains.

Frequent travellers use the In Karta card, which carries a discount application: IN 25 for 25 per cent and IN 50 for 50 per cent off basic Flexi and route tickets, IN 50 1T so that entitled discount groups can buy reduced 1st class tickets, and IN 100 as a network ticket giving unlimited 2nd class travel, free carriage of luggage or a dog, and free seat reservations except on compulsory-reservation trains. Groups of two or more can use the Group Ticket, and groups of 20 or more book ahead online, at a counter or by phone and receive their seat reservations free.

At the station and on the platform

Give yourself a margin at the larger stations, especially Praha hlavní nádraží, where finding the departure board, the right platform and the correct part of it takes longer than the walk suggests. If the platform is not shown yet, that is normal; it is often confirmed closer to departure.

Czech stations carry more services than travellers expect. Depending on the station you may find an international ticket office, left luggage, waiting rooms, ČD Parking and a ČD exchange office where money can be changed at the ticket counter without a fee. The Můj vlak app also shows departure boards and the services available at your station and on your train.

Prague's main station has the ČD Lounge, reopened in February 2026 after a rebuild that raised it from 24 seats to 76 and added a Business Zone with semi-separate cubicles. It offers free Wi-Fi, power outlets, coffee, soft drinks and small snacks. Access needs a valid ČD or international ticket plus one of the following: travel in 1st class, a 2nd class seat reservation, any variant of IN 100, travelling with children under 10, pregnancy, or a ZTP or ZTP/P card.

On board ČD trains

Long-distance ČD trains are comfortable and steadily improving, but facilities vary by category, so read the train type rather than assuming. ČD reported more than 450 trains equipped with Wi-Fi during 2025, alongside 144 new carriages and locomotives entering service with over 7,000 air-conditioned seats and 248 added barrier-free connections. Quiet compartments and dedicated spaces for passengers with children are available on many services, and some trains carry a children's cinema.

Regional trains are a different proposition. On Os and Sp services, expect basic seating and little or no catering, and carry water and food on longer regional legs.

Overnight is where ČD is unusually good value. In sleeper carriages a breakfast is included in the ticket price and served by the JLV attendant, with a choice of hot and cold drinks and a sweet or cheese option, and light refreshments can be bought on board during the journey.

First class, Business class and the ČD Lounge

First class is worth paying for on longer trips or when you need to work, and railjet adds a Business Class above it. If you already hold a 2nd class adult ticket, the temporary first class surcharge recorded on an In Karta lets you move up to 1st class or a Business compartment for domestic travel. Two limits apply: on compulsory-reservation trains you must still buy the reservation in advance, and the surcharge cannot be combined with discounted government fares.

The IN Business network ticket is transferable and covers unlimited travel in both 1st and 2nd class, with free oversized luggage or dog carriage and free seat reservations, excluding SC reservations and railjet Business reservations.

Connections, delays and live train times

ČD punctuality is better than its reputation. The operator reported 88.2 per cent punctuality across 2025, up 0.6 percentage points year on year and its best figure since 2016, measured across more than 47 million arrivals and departures at effectively every station and stop rather than only at final destinations. ČD dispatched 2,427,132 trains and carried 168 million passengers that year.

Delays still happen, and ČD attributes the largest share, 68.2 per cent, to a mixed category covering trains crossing or overtaking, waiting for connections, and force majeure. If your itinerary has a tight change, build in more time than the planner's minimum, particularly when you are carrying luggage, travelling with children or connecting to an international service.

On the day, check live status in the app, on the ČD site or on station boards, and keep notifications on for platform, delay and route changes. If a delay does cost you the journey, EU rail passenger rights entitle you to 25 per cent of the ticket price for a delay of one to two hours at your destination and 50 per cent for two hours or more. ČD also offers compensation for discomfort such as air conditioning that is not working.

Luggage, bikes, pets and assistance

Hand luggage travels free on ČD trains. You stow it above or below your own seat or on your lap, and anything that will not fit there still counts as hand luggage if it stays within 90 x 60 x 40 cm. Luggage may not be left on seats or in toilets and washrooms, and items over 50 kg are not accepted. Sports equipment is treated generously: a pair of skis with poles, a snowboard, a sleigh, sleds, a small folding or child's kick-scooter with wheels no larger than 12 inches, and sports bags all count as hand luggage, and skis and snowboards do not need to be bagged.

Bicycles use one of two services. On trains marked with a bicycle symbol you carry the bike as accompanied luggage and load it yourself into the designated space. On trains marked with a suitcase symbol the conductor helps load it into a dedicated area and it stays under their supervision. The carriage fee is calculated by the kilometres travelled and paid directly to the conductor, some trains allow a bike reservation, and an all-day bicycle ticket exists. If you would rather not bring your own, ČD Bike rents bicycles at stations and lets you return them at a different one.

Prams and pushchairs travel free on all trains when accompanying a child, and take priority over other oversized luggage such as bicycles when both are boarding at once.

Dogs are welcome on almost all trains in 2nd class. A dog must be muzzled and kept on a short leash, and needs its own travel document priced by distance. A small dog carried in a closed container with an impermeable bottom travels free provided the container stays within 90 x 60 x 40 cm and does not occupy a seat. Guide dogs and assistance dogs travel free. A dog outside a container may not be taken into 1st class, restaurant or bistro carriages, compartments reserved for passengers with children under 10, family compartments or marked quiet compartments. No seat reservation is charged for a dog on compulsory-reservation trains.

Assistance has firm lead times, and they are the detail most often missed. Order help at least 24 hours before departure for a domestic journey, and at least 36 hours ahead if you are travelling abroad. Allow generous transfer time at any station where you change. If part of the journey runs on another carrier's train you must order that assistance directly with that carrier, and journeys combining several carriers go through the One Ticket Asistence system.

Buying online or at the station

Online is the stronger channel for a planned trip. The e-shop, m.cd.cz and the Můj vlak app are the only places selling Fixed tickets, they include free seat reservations on trains without compulsory reservation, and they price a whole journey as one ticket, automatically combining the discounted Flexi and Fixed segment prices along the route instead of making you buy several separate tickets.

Ticket offices still earn their place. Larger stations have international ticket counters, staff who can work through an awkward routing with you, and an exchange office attached. Group travel for 20 or more can be arranged at a counter or by telephone on +420 221 111 122. Buying from the conductor is not a general option: it applies mainly when the ticket office at your departure station was closed, and some trains carry a ticket machine instead. One small trap for pet owners: a dog ticket can be bought in the e-shop for domestic journeys only, so arrange an international dog ticket at a counter.

Planning a journey with České dráhy

Before you pay, run five checks. Confirm the exact departure and arrival station, since Prague alone has hlavní nádraží, Holešovice, Libeň and Masarykovo nádraží. Confirm whether your fare is tied to a specific train. Confirm whether that train carries a compulsory reservation, and buy the reservation with the ticket if it does. Add any extras to the same booking, whether that is a bike, a dog or an oversized item. Then confirm the lead time for assistance if anyone in your party needs it.

On the day of travel, check the live departure and platform in the app before you leave, and keep notifications switched on so a route change reaches you before the platform board does. Book earlier on popular corridors and international services if price matters, since the Fixed and discounted Flexi fares rise as departure approaches. Handled that way, ČD is one of the more straightforward national operators in central Europe to travel with.