Page:NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SURVEY 18; CZECHOSLOVAKIA; TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110013-9.pdf/13

 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110013-9

543 million passengers and produced 11.4 billion passenger-miles.

The CSD equipment pool is not adequate in quantity or quality. Equipment conditions are critical during peak traffic periods in spring and autumn when demands are greatest. Freight-car turnaround time, a measure of operating efficiency, increased from 3.8 days in 1967 to 4.0 days in 1971. Much of the equipment is in poor condition and therefore places great strain on the out-of-date repair facilities. Major car and engine repair shops are at Plzen, Vrutky, Nymburk, Zvolen, Kolin, Ceska Trebova, Chomutov, Ceske Velenice, Ostrava, Louny, Decin, Trnava, Ceska Lipa, Krnov, and Sumperk. Maintenance service is provided at principal yards and junctions.

In 1971 the CSD inventory consisted of 4,806 locomotives—1,800 steam, 2,000 diesel, and 1,006 electric. Replacement of the steam units by diesels and electrics has been slow because the major portion of domestic production of diesel switching locomotives and main line electric locomotives is delivered to the U.S.S.R. In 1971 the freight-car inventory consisted of 150,550 cars, most of which had two axles. Data on the breakdown by type of equipment is not available. Czechoslovakia is the largest producer of main line electric locomotives and one of the larger producers of freight cars in Eastern Europe. Main line diesel locomotives are imported from the U.S.S.R.; passenger and freight cars, from Yugoslavia and Hungary.

The Council for Economic Mutual Assistance (CEMA) freight-car pool, designed to achieve more efficient car utilization among the Eastern European Communist countries, was established on 1 July 1964, with 92,700 cars. Czechoslovakia has contributed over 20,000 cars to the pool, which now 236,000 and has provided some relief from the existing car shortage.

In 1972 the CSD had 253,000 employees. The personnel situation of the system continues to be critical because of employee shortages, insufficient training, and lack of discipline. These problems have greatly affected the mechanization and modernization program. Recently the CSD introduced the 5-day workweek, a piece-rate wage, and a new bonus rate in attempts to recruit new employees and to improve operations. Several railroad training schools are situated throughout the country and at higher educational facilities in Prague, Zilina, and Breclav.

D. Highways (S)

Highway transport is used primarily for short-haul movement and local transportation. The highway network has been meeting the minimal requirements of the national economy despite the continuing rise in traffic volume and the marginal condition of many roads. Almost all main highways are paved, but inadequate maintenance limits the effectiveness of the road system as a means of cross-country movement.

The highway network is adequately distributed; the greatest concentrations are in the populous and heavily industrialized western and central areas of the country. The roads form radial patterns around the cities of Prague and Plzen in the west and Brno in central Czechoslovakia. Highway connections between major regions are adequate. In eastern Slovakia, however, there are only two main east-west routes; these converge at Michalovce and continue as a single route to the U.S.S.R. border near Uzhgorod. International border connections are maintained with all adjacent countries. The density of national highways—0.92 mile per square mile—is relatively high and compares favorable with most neighboring countries. The overall quantity of this road network is steadily improving and in this respect is comparable to the highway systems of the adjacent countries.

The Czechoslovak highway network comprises an estimated 45,500 miles of national routes and an undetermined mileage of local roads and tracks. The national road network comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation and administratively is classified as follows: primary (5,500 miles), secondary (11,000 miles) and tertiary (29,000 miles). The administrative classification does not signify a particular type of road construction. Primary roads are generally 18 to 30 feet wide and are paved and adequately bridged; most secondary roads are bituminous surfaced, 16 to 20 feet wide, and adequately bridged; and many tertiary roads have been widened and paved recently, but the majority still remain narrow and gravel surfaced with low-capacity bridges.

A typical national route is generally bituminous surfaced (Figure 3) with short sections of cobblestone, stone sett, or concrete. This type of road constitutes 31,580 miles or about 70% of the national network; the remaining portion of the network is crushed-stone or gravel roads. The average thickness of new bituminous surfacing is about 2 to 3 inches. Paved road widths are generally 16 to 30 feet. Bases are crushed stone, gravel, sand or combinations thereof in varying thickness up to 1½ feet for new concrete highways. Shoulders are grass, earth, or gravel and are mainly up to 6 feet wide, though there are some that measure up to 10 feet.

Details on principal highway routes are given in Figure 6.

The estimated 26,500 highway bridges range from old steel through-truss and masonry deck-arch types to

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110013-9