CD 810

Updated: August 2026 – A short, tall car body, two axles, a diesel engine, plus a single-track branch line somewhere in Bohemia or Moravia: in Czechia, this picture belongs to the Class 810. This page shows you how to recognise it, why it was once called M 152.0, and how to photograph and document it properly.

What is the Class 810?

The Class 810 is a two-axle diesel railcar for Czech branch-line services. A single, relatively short car body sits directly on two axles in the frame – there are no bogies. That places the vehicle in the family of railbuses: built for lines where a locomotive-hauled train would be too big and too expensive.

Before the Czechoslovak designation system changed, the same type carried the designation M 152.0. Czechia has used purely numeric classes since 1988, and the letter code became the class number 810. Anyone looking at older literature or photos from before that date will therefore find both spellings for the same vehicle – a pattern that runs through the entire Czech vehicle register, from the diesel locomotives of Classes 750 to 754 to the electric locomotives.

Identification: three glances are enough

How to read vehicle numbers like this systematically, and where the individual blocks sit, is explained in the article on the UIC number and its check digit. The basic order for identification – first vehicle type, then axles, then details – is covered in the guide to identifying classes.

Where the 810 fits into railway operations

Two-axle railcars are specialists for lightly used lines. They run where small numbers of passengers need to be served at short intervals: winding branch lines, spur lines, feeder services to larger hubs. For spotting, that produces a clear rule: you won’t find the 810 at the big main station, but at the small station further down the line.

Location	Chance of a sighting	Why
Single-track branch line with an hourly service	High	Classic operating area for two-axle railcars
Small crossing station on the branch line	High	Train crossings mean long dwell times
Terminus of a spur line	High	Turnaround time, quiet surroundings, good view of the whole vehicle
Large hub station	Medium	Only as a feeder service, often at the furthest platform
Electrified main line	Low	Electric multiple units and locomotive-hauled trains dominate there

Part of the appeal is the contrast with the rest of the Czech fleet: while modern multiple units such as the Class 471 CityElefant run on the main routes, the branch lines still host a vehicle generation that has long since disappeared elsewhere in Europe. On the same lines you’ll also find the rebuilds derived from it, the Class 814 ‘Regionova’ – parent and derived type running side by side in the same duty area. Most of these branch-line services are still operated by the state railway České dráhy. Fleet, operator and areas of use shift with every contract award and timetable year, though – don’t rely on older lists.

Photo tips for a short railcar

A two-axle railcar is more demanding to photograph than it looks: it’s small, the surroundings are often cluttered, and the typical branch line runs between trees. Four points help.

Anyone who wants to find their photos again, not just take them, should set up a proper sighting archive from the start. How that works in practice is covered in the guide to the sighting logbook; the photographic basics – light, angle, shutter speed – are covered in the article taking good photos of trains.

The Czech class system in brief

The 810 is a good opportunity to sort out the whole system once and for all – it pays off with every further Czech vehicle you meet. Until 1988, Czechoslovakia used letters plus a number group: M for railcars, T for diesel locomotives, E for electric locomotives. M 152.0 became the Class 810 at that point, and T 478 became the well-known diesel locomotives of the 750 family. Anyone looking through older books, photo archives or model railway catalogues will therefore keep running into both spellings.

Since the changeover, a purely numeric order applies, and it’s pleasingly consistent. The first digit names the vehicle group: low hundreds stand for electric locomotives, the 700 block for diesel locomotives, the 800 block for railcars with combustion engines, higher ranges for electric multiple units. The first digit alone therefore answers the question you ask first about an unfamiliar vehicle: locomotive or railcar, diesel or electric?

Then there’s the international layer. Every vehicle in the European rail network carries a twelve-digit vehicle number, in which a country block names the state of registration. For Czechia that’s 54, for Germany 80, for the Netherlands 84. This number stays valid even when a vehicle changes its livery, its operator, or even its country of use – it’s the one truly stable reference point.

In practice, that means: always note the full data panel at a sighting, not just the three-digit class number. Especially for a type like the 810, of which many vehicles have been rebuilt, renumbered or withdrawn, the difference between “saw an 810” and “saw this specific vehicle on this day” is huge. Only the second version turns into an analysable collection later on.

Common mix-ups

Conclusion

The Class 810 is one of those vehicles you never mix up again once you’ve seen it: two axles, a short body, a diesel engine, a branch line. What makes it interesting is less the technology than its role – it keeps alive a type of line that has vanished elsewhere, and with its dual designation M 152.0 / 810 it stands for the system change in Czech vehicle numbering. If you want to find one, drive out of the hub and into the countryside.