Brno/Prague - "A landmark in European bus travel that will change the way paople look at the road transportation."
Radim Jančura, the head of the Czech travel company Student Agency, cannot be more confident about his new plan to trump competitors.
He told Aktuálně.cz that his company has ordered 24 new superb buses from Spain. "They are being designed and will be produced exclusively for our company," Jančura says.
New vehicles, comparable with Europe's most luxurious trains, will be brought in next year between February and May.
Bigger, better, wireless
Not seats, but rather "armchairs" - that will be the most obvious innovation.
Films will no longer be projected from DVD players, but via a wireless internet connection. Wi-Fi will also make it possible for the passengers to keep abreast of what is happening through online news and other programs.
Wi-Fi onboard is already provided by Student Agency's competitor, the company Asiana and the way things are going, an all-out business war could soon be on the horizon.
Aktuálně.cz has learned that Asiana is buying new buses as well. Although Mladá Fronta Dnes daily believes that the company is on the contrary going to reduce the number of its buses on the Prague-Brno line.
War of the buses
Since the beginning of October, Student Agency´s trademark yellow buses have been competing with Asiana´s golden coaches for domination over the busy route.
Both companies offer special discount deals which have made it possible to get from one city to the other for only 50 Czech crowns.
Every year, Student Agency transports one and a half million passengers between Prague and Brno, and this still leaves space for Asiana which is satisfied with its market share as well.
"We are meeting our goals of having at least 40 per cent of our buses' capacity filled," the company's spokesman assured.
Railways to join the fray
The competition has already alerted a third party - the Czech Railways (ČD).
"We are going to introduce fast trains between Prague and Brno that will be leaving every hour and stopping only in Pardubice," informed the state company´s spokesman Ondřej Kubala.
Once the new timetable is put in place, it will be possible to make thr trip for only 35 Czech crowns - but, again, only by utilizing limited discount deals
