page_title: ČSD Class EMU 89.0
section_title: Service history
hierarchical_section_title: ČSD Class EMU 89.0 / Service history
context_page_description: The former ČSD Class EMU 89.0, later known as the ŽSR Class 420.95, was a class of metre gauge electric multiple units operated from the late 1960s until 2001-2002, on the Tatra Electric Railway, in the Prešov Region of northeastern Slovakia.
context_section_description: In mid April 1965, the prototype, no 89.001, began a testing program on the TEŽ line between Poprad-Tatry and Štrbské Pleso.  The tests revealed that improvements were required to the emergency brake and the front pantograph.  In September 1965, the prototype was returned to the factory, where it was fitted with more efficient compressors and underwent some minor adjustments, including to its heating equipment.
  The prototype entered regular service in May 1967 on the Poprad-Tatry to Starý Smokovec line, and operated at speeds of up to 45 kilometres per hour (28 mph).  Meanwhile, at the end of June 1966, orders had been placed for the 17 series production units.  The first of these, no 89.002, was delivered to Poprad-Tatry in January 1969, and achieved the same speeds as the prototype.  By the end of 1969, nos 89.003 to 89.014 had also been delivered; nos 89.015 to 89.018 followed in 1970.
  Until the breakup of the former Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the 18 class members, and the TEŽ itself, were owned and operated by the Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD).  In service, their well proven three section articulated configuration allowed successful operation on the TEŽ's tight radius curves.  Additionally, their all axle drive system enabled rapid acceleration and good traction, especially on uphill sections.  On the other hand, the class did suffer from occasional derailments, leading to service interruptions.  There were also problems with torn coupling bellows between the units, and the rubber insulating roof mats.  In July 1981, due to delays in the delivery of replacements for worn tyres, all but four of the units had to be temporarily taken out of service, and replaced by road buses.
  In 1988, the class was redesignated as Class 420.95.
  From the start of 1993, the TEŽ and the class were operated by Železnice Slovenskej republiky (ŽSR).  By the end of the twentieth century, the class members had reached the end of their working lives.  In 2001-2002, they were gradually replaced by the ZSSK Class 425.95, at around the time the operator of the TEŽ was changed to Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko (ZSSK).  The class's last regular operations were on the TEŽ's Starý Smokovec–Tatranská Lomnica branch line.
  All members of the class have been withdrawn from service, although some were placed in reserve, and one has been preserved as a heritage vehicle.
caption: Class 420.95 trains at Starý Smokovec, Summer 2000.
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