Open-Door Day at the Testing Center Velim

Two hundred lucky people - who reserved their entry tickets in time - could visit the Testing Center (ZC Velim) of the Railway Research Institute (VUŽ) Velim on 8 May 2010 which is not accessible to public at all. After many requests for a visit or field trip at the ZC Velim the company management decided to arrange the Open-Door Day for a public. A number of visitors was, however, limited for safety reasons and thus a given capacity was fulfilled almost immediately.

Visitors could see a lot of interesting things which they could examine according to their wishes. The visit of the hall with a dynamic testing bench, tests preparation hall and substation was accompanied with a professional comment during which many curious questions of visitors were responded to their satisfaction. Another attraction was a fully functionable model of the ZC Velim, size TT situated in a meeting room of the administration building. Both rings of a true model were animated by different testing train-sets like in the reality and so it was always something to be seen. Each of visitors could go around a big testing ring in a CD repainted passenger coach hauled by the locomotive T478.1010 which returned several weeks ago from a repair during which it was put into the original state, having been produced by ČKD Praha. The outdoor exhibition included „a show" of vehicles which are presently tested at the ZC Velim. For example there are new train-sets for the route C of Rome underground. Interested persons could see locomotives of the series 380 by Škoda Transportation, locomotives 189 by Siemens, the unit 671 by Škoda Vagónka and VUZ locomotive, series 124 fitted by special equipment for different tests.
As the event was a great success and not all interested persons could participate in the visit of the ZC Velim, the VUZ decided to repeat the Open-Door Day quite soon.