The modernization of the line between Prague’s Bubny and the Exhibition Center has begun. It will be part of the expressway to Kladno and the airport
“Building a high-quality railway connection from Prague to Kladno and also to Václav Havel Prague Airport is one of the government’s priorities, and the Prague-Bubny station will become an important transit point for transport in Prague,” said Transport Minister Martin Kupka (ODS). The section after the new Praha-Výstaviště stop connects to the reconstructed Negrelli viaduct.
“From a safety point of view, it is important to replace the busy crossing in Bubenská street with a railway flyover and also to increase the bridge structure in Dukelské hrdinů street,” added Jiří Svoboda, director general of the Railway Administration.
Construction of a temporary track
The preparatory work will be the first to start, and at the same time a temporary track will be built to maintain train traffic in the direction of Kralupy nad Vltavou. The largest construction objects, which are the three bridge flyovers and the new station building in Bubne, will be completed this May. It should be completed in 2025.
Praha-Bubny station will be moved closer to the Negrelli viaduct and offer a direct transfer to metro C. Later, a grassy rest area will be built on its roof, and an administrative building will also be created there, along with the construction of a new district, directly above the station. There will be commercial spaces in the station lobbies. The modernized line to the new Praha-Výstaviště stops will mostly lead over the overpass and the stop will be created on the edge of Stromovka.
The amount of costs for the modernization of the part of the track between Bubny and Výstaviště reaches almost three billion crowns. The section of the line was built by the association of companies Metrostav TBR, OHLA ŽS and Elektrizace železnik Praha. Eighty-five percent of the project will be financed by the European Union.
The main goal is the modernization of the Praha-Bubny station, the double-tracking of the approximately 1.3-kilometer line, its electrification and the construction of new stops Praha-Výstaviště. The construction of an underpass is also starting, which will allow a direct transfer between trams and trains.