EU antitrust regulators scraps 6-year probe into Czech Rail

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have dropped a six-year old investigation into Czech railway company Ceske drahy (CD) after failing to find evidence of wrongdoing, the European Commission said on Friday.

The EU competition enforcer opened an investigation in 2016 and followed it up with charges in 2020, accusing Ceske drahy of charging below-cost prices on the Prague-Ostrava route between 2011 and 2019.

"Following a careful assessment of all relevant evidence, including information received from CD, the Commission concluded that the evidence did not confirm its initial concerns and has therefore decided to close its investigation," the EU executive said in a statement.

It said a separate investigation into CD and Austrian railway company Osterreichische Bundesbahnen regarding the market for used passenger railway wagons was still ongoing.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Jason Neely)