Slovenská Strela - The M 290.0 Series Rail Motor Coach (1936) Editorial Image

The "Slovenska Strela" M 290.0 series rail motor coaches were produced in 1936 for the then Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD) by Tatra in Koprivnice. The coaches possessed extraordinary design of the body, a very aesthetic rendition, and, above all, a unique electromechanical power transfer system by Josef Sousedik. Two manufactured coaches, marked M 290.001 and 002, were put into operation on July 13, 1936. They were assigned to the depot of their home station in Bratislava and operated under the trade name of "Slovenska Strela" on the Prague – Brno – Bratislava route, with an average cruising speed of 92 km h (steam trains at that time averaged 68 km h). The coach was the first with compulsory seat reservation for the ČSD. The travel time was 4 hours and 51 minutes, including a stop-over in Brno, which lasted 35 minutes.