Prague will withdraw from the construction of a tram line from Pankrác to Budějovická
The new tram line will end behind the Pankrác metro station.
Prague City Hall will probably withdraw from the extension of the tram line from the Prague Uprising through Pankrác to Budějovické náměstí. I do not agree with the intention of the City Hall of Prague 4. The trams will then end in front of the post office at the beginning of Budějovická Street in Pankrác. The Deputy Mayor of Prague 4, Zdeněk Kovářík (ODS), and the Technical Director of the Transport Company (DPP), Jan Šurovský, told ČTK today. DPP has now extended the line of Na Pankráci streets between the intersections with Na Veselí and Hvězdova streets.
“For the city district I can say that from the main post office (tram line) on in any case. We have 450 parking spaces there, which of course is impossible to replace. There is no reason for this extension,“Said Kovářík. Last year, the councilor approved the acceleration of construction preparations. The post office is located at the intersection of Budějovická and Na Strži streets.
A study is currently being developed that has not yet been finally approved by the city, company or town hall. “But we are approaching an agreement and there are only small things like whether the crossing should be half a meter wide or half a meter less wide. These are, indeed, I would say the details,“Said Kovářík.
Šurovský said that the city and Prague 4 agreed to extend Na Pankráci Street and then to the post office. “We agreed that it makes sense for both local and long-distance links. But it’s still a really conflicting issue because of parking, and even that, so it’s not entirely acute,He said. According to Šurovský, the company wants to complete the study as soon as possible and submit it to the Prague management for discussion.
In the future, a classic tram loop would not be created in front of the post office, but a headland with one island platform. The trams would stop by him and leave for the shift. Passengers could change to metro D. Another stop would be created in front of the Arkády shopping center, where there would be a transfer from the tram to metro C.
According to the original plans, three stops were to be created on the 1.5-kilometer-long route, namely Pankrác, Zelená Liška and Budějovická. A new transfer between trams, buses and the metro was to be created in Pankrác and Budějovická. The costs were estimated at 700 million crowns.
DPP has already started the construction of the line on Pankrác Street Pražského povstání. At the beginning of the section, the DPP will build a new railway triangle due to the turn of the line to the Pankrác depot, at the end of the section there will be a railway crossing and a new Pankrác tram stop intended for boarding and alighting of passengers. Construction of a new tram line Pankrác DPP to the station simultaneously with the reconstruction of the existing section of the line in Na Veselí and Soudní streets. DPP plans to complete both constructions by November 27, 2020, just before the winter technological break.
The first railway crossing in Prague
“We want to continue returning trams to areas of Prague where the historic ones ran and where they make sense in terms of the number of passengers. Specifically, we will need the line for alternative tram transport during the closure of the Pankrác C metro station due to the construction of the new Pankrác D station. Therefore, we want to extend the tram line as soon as possible, before the construction of the Pankrác D metro station begins,“Said Adam Scheinherr, Deputy Mayor for Transport and Chairman of the DPP Supervisory Board.
According to Šurovský, the new line is unique not only because it is exactly in the footsteps of the historic tram line, which was abandoned in 1974 due to the start of metro operation on line C and the promotion of the then concept to operate only the metro and buses in Prague. “The second uniqueness is that we will permanently use the level crossing at regular locations in Prague. It will be in the new tram stop Pankrác, “ said Šurovský. Next spring, DPP plans to reconstruct the existing tram stop also in Na Pankráci and Táborská streets, ie in the section from the intersection of Na Pankráci and Na Veselí streets to the intersection of Táborská, respectively. Vladimírovy and Nuselská streets.
DPP expects frequent use of the newly built section of the route to the Pankrác metro station at the end of next year. Until then, DPP plans to use the new section for alternative tram transport. The Prague and DPP tram route plans to extend further through the intersection with Hvězdová Street and directly onto Na Pankráci Street, where the Pankrác Arcade stop would be set up in front of Arkády Pankrác. The track continued at the beginning of Budějovická Street, where, according to the plan, the final stop was located in front of the intersection with Bystřická Street as a passage for the end of two-way cars. The stop will serve local service as well as attendance at the adjacent post office and business facilities.
The history of tram traffic in Pankrác and Krč
Trams started running on Pankrác 95 years ago thanks to the extension of the line from Nusle to today’s Hrdinů Square. Five years later, on May 29, 1930, the line was extended from Hrdinů Square through Lísek (later called Budějovické náměstí) to Kačerov. In 1938, the Budějovické náměstí – Ryšánka branch was put into operation. The original tram line led to the bus station Pankrác street on May 5, but due to the construction of the southern part of the highway and the D1 motorway, it was transferred to the parallel street Na Pankráci. The commissioning of line C of the Prague metro and the promotion of the concept of public transport based on the metro and buses meant the end of tram traffic in the area of Kačerov, Krč, Budějovické náměstí and Pankrác in general. A special chapter is the cancellation of tram traffic on Ryšánek. This line was costly reconstructed in 1967, and three years later the operation on it was temporarily interrupted due to the construction of the metro (Antala Staška Bridge). However, he never returned because no tracks were laid on the bridge itself. For about another 30 years, the tram line in the Pankrác area fell into disrepair before it was liquidated. The only functional remnant that has remained after 95 years to the present is the operation from Nusle to the Pankrác depot. The currently restored section has the construction character of the track reconstruction, which served only approximately 3.5 years.
ČTK + Zdopravy.cz
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