The first Czech turnout for high-speed lines was built in Prostějov14/10/2024|Press releasesThe presentation of a turnout that will be used on the future Czech high-speed railway took place on the premises of DT – Výhybkárna a strojírna in Prostějov. The product, which is the result of the company's own development, enables trains to run at 350 km/h in the straight direction and 230 km/h when changing to another track. "The preparation of high-speed lines has progressed to the stage where hundreds of kilometres of future sections are already being designed. That is why we need to be ready for making them operational in all aspects. This is also an opportunity for the Czech railway industry, which has a long tradition and is competitive on world markets," says transport minister Martin Kupka. Products from the Prostějov turnout production plant are also used on the corridor lines of Správa železnic, where they contribute to the acceleration of operation. It was already in 2007 that a turnout was installed in the Poříčany station, which enables travel to the branch-off direction with a speed of 130 km/h. For four years now, it has been possible to turn off via a pair of turnouts in the Prosenice station with a speed that is even 30 km higher. "Turnouts are an integral part of the railway infrastructure, there are over twenty thousand of them on our network. We also invest in modern products in this area that help us improve the parameters of the Czech railway. For example, turnouts with a movable point frog are already a common part of our rail lines, offering greater comfort to passengers when train change to another track," says Jiří Svoboda, Director General of Správa železnic. "Our turnouts, their structure and components have already found their way to more than 30 countries around the world. The turnout presented today is a concrete result of our long-term efforts to prepare and offer a product of competitive technical level with the necessary added value created in the Czech Republic," says Marek Smolka, General Manager of DT – Výhybkárna a strojírna. The participants in the event also had the opportunity to see the largest investment in the history of DT to date: the new 118x46m production hall equipped with automated production technology for the pressing of point blade rails, which will be put into operation at the end of this year. The main reason for the decision to actually make this investment was the need for the company's self-sufficiency in the production of this essential component of the high-speed turnout, the turnout blade with a length of almost 70 m, and also for replacing the existing old equipment for the production of railway blades intended for turnouts on conventional lines.