Theme of the stamp
rail motor coach class M 290.0 (manufactured as Tatra 68), named after an express train which it served as “Slovenská strela”. Only two units were manufactured by Tatra Kopřivnice for the Czechoslovak Railways in 1936. The designer of its unique electromechanical power transmission was Josef Sousedík, a Vsetín-based electrical technician.
Slovenská strela is the name of an express train famous for its fast speed, first operated in July 1936 on the route between the Czech capital Prague and the Slovak capital Bratislava. It originally ran with unique mid-1930s motor units M 290.0 (Tatra 68), which cut the travel time by more than an hour as compared to the then fastest train pulled by a steam engine. The regular travel time of 4 hours and 18 minutes was not overcome until the 21st century. The motor units were so fast that they earned their nickname “Slovenská strela” (Slovak for “Slovak Arrow”). The train was identified as MR 175 (on the route to Prague) and MR 176 (on the route to Bratislava) where MR stood for “fast motor train” in Czech. This was the first motor train of its kind used in Czechoslovakia. The train was out of service during World War II.
From 1946-2006, Slovenská strela ran with ordinary locomotives. In the 1960s, the train was renamed to “Ostravan-Bratislavan expres”.
From 10 December 2006, the name “SuperCity Slovenská strela” was used for a Eurocity train operated by the Czech Railways and the Slovak Railway Company ZSSK.
Method of printing
multicoloured offset