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Czech Railways (České dráhy), the Czech state-owned rail carrier, has launched a new phase of trials using hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) on its diesel-powered regional trains, marking one of the most ambitious real-world tests of sustainable fuel in Central European rail transport.
The latest round of testing is being conducted on the Rakovník–Beroun and Beroun–Rudná u Prahy–Prague lines, the same routes that hosted a 20% HVO blend in real operating conditions last year on three Class 847 RegioFox trains.
The programme has now advanced to a fourth stage — one that was not originally planned — evaluating fuel with a 100% biocomponent share on identical trains and routes.
'Our strategic goal is to expand electric traction and reduce local emissions from internal combustion engines,' said Jiří Ješeta, Czech Railways' deputy CEO for passenger transport. With most Czech rail tracks still unelectrified, however, diesel-powered trains are expected to remain in service for decades to come, making eco-fuel a near-term lever for cutting environmental harm right now.
The testing project has progressed through several clearly defined stages. Specialists first selected suitable fuel blends, secured certification, and analysed the legal framework for using sustainable fuel with a higher biocomponent content. In the second phase, blends containing 15%, 30% and 100% bio-additives were tested on PESA Class 847 railcars at the VUZ (Research Institute of Rail Vehicles) test centre in Velim, where engineers benchmarked power output, fuel consumption and emission levels against pure diesel.
HVO belongs to a category of biocomponents that, once processed at refineries, closely mirror the diesel fraction of petroleum in composition. According to Czech Railways, using HVO produced from vegetable oil cultivated specifically for fuel can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60–65%. When the feedstock is shifted to recycled used cooking oils and fats, emission savings rise to 90–95% compared with conventional petroleum-based diesel.
For the oils and fats industry, the move signals a growing outlet for used cooking oil and purpose-grown vegetable oil feedstocks in heavy-transport applications beyond road freight.
Source: Around Prague