Trams will run to Holyna, Libuše and beyond the borders of Prague. After years, the Prague railway network will begin to extend – ČT24 – Czech Television
Across the bridge to Dvorka and then to Libuše
However, after the reconstruction of the track in Nádražní Street, two “started” tracks remained. In addition to the Barrandov loop, switches have been created that do not lead anywhere yet, also at the southern end of Nádražní at the overpass over the railway. In this case, however, the transport company has prepared for the construction of a line that will not begin immediately – so I will find out the Dvorecký bridge over the Vltava. “We have built a large part of the railway triangle for the idea of the Dvorecký Bridge,” Jan Šurovský, the technical director of the transport company, specified the current form of the future tram junction. This year, the Prague City Hall wants to apply for a building permit for the bridge, which could start construction next year and is expected to be completed in 2024.
The already mentioned Libušská track is also waiting for a building permit. The transport company anticipated that it would be established in parallel with the Holiny line, but since it does not yet have a building permit, work on it will probably start later. There are to be four new stops on the 1.5 km long section. Even in Libuš, trams will end without a loop and two-way cars will be needed here as well. In the first phase, the line will take over the work of bus line 165, as it will serve the Libuš Observatory and the southern part of the housing estate.
Until the more distant future, there are plans to further stretch the track, which would then end up in Nové Dvůr. Construction will be a matter of the second half of the 1920s. Currently, the transport company is looking for a developer of project documentation.
An interesting feature of the Novodvorská line will be its termination by a block loop, ie actually a single-track and one-way circular line led by the street. This is not an unprecedented or common solution in Prague. Only those at Podolská vodárna, Střelničná and Vápence are explicitly block loops. As block loops, the transport company also uses lines in the Palmovka area and near Anděl, which, however, were not intended as a loop and that trams can be turned on on them is a consequence of the construction development of Prague.
Zahradní Město instead of Nádraží Strašnice, Depot Hostivař instead of Černokostelecké
The loop – but classic – will be created before the block one more. One should bring trams closer to the metro at the Hostivař depot, where two lines to Černokostelecká end, while today only one continues around the final metro. The second loop is to be part of the terminal at the future Zahradní Město railway station.
The transport company is already looking for a contractor for the Zahradní Město loop. Trams will turn under the bridge on the South Junction at Ždánická Street, ie at the eastern end of the platforms of the future railway station. The construction is to take 150 days, so depending on when the tender is closed, the trams that were still running at the Strašnice railway station could go to Zahradní Město. This is her partial replacement.
The construction of the Hostivař loop could also start this year. He now has a valid building permit, and the transport company has yet to find a contractor.
At the same time, the loop at the final metro A will have a unique function in that, in addition to the lines that will end at the metro, trams that will only pass on the route to the central workshops should not run on it.
Dědina and Strahov are waiting for “their” tracks
In the past, the airport in Prague would also say that trams should serve not only the railway station but also the airport. This is not on the agenda, but in the near future it will get at least a little closer to the airport. The track, which now ends at Divoká Šárka, will lead to Dědina. The transport company has had a zoning decision since 2019, and is still waiting for a building permit. Construction should begin in 2023.
The track will be longer than two kilometers longer to Holy than the extension from Barrandna or Modřany to Libuše. It will lead along Vlastina Street to its western end and Drnovská Street, ending in a loop at Drnovská Street, ie near the nearest bus stop Dlouhá mili.
In 2023, or a year later, the line from Malovanka to the Strahov Stadium could also start to grow, and the city management promises a capacity connection of the Dejvice campus with the Strahov dormitories (due to limited bus traffic from Strahov to the north). In the meantime, however, a project of this roughly one-kilometer route is being developed.
By tram like Wenceslas Square
But quite possibly the most talked about in Prague is about new tram lines around Wenceslas Square. Their construction began the year before, when two dormitories were built in Vinohradská Street between the historic and the new building of the National Museum. They are not yet connected to the track in the upper part of Vinohradská, they also lack overhead lines and – similarly to what is currently the case in Na Pankráci Street – cars are parked on them. In the future, however, two routes should follow. One will lead to the upper part of Wenceslas Square and will open into the track in Jindřišská and Vodičková streets. The second heads to Washington Street and Vrchlického sady to Bolzano.