Clicked. Construction of the first section of metro D can begin
Deputy Mayor for Transport Adam Scheinherr (Prague himself) described the section in question, with a total of five stations, as “the most needed, the most complex and at the same time the shortest possible for independent operation”.
State support?
After the approval of the project in the council, the municipal coalition is ready to continuously discuss the current possibilities of loans and subsidies from the European Union. Metropole calls on the government to accept financial co-responsibility for “by far the most important investment event in modern Prague”.
“The government has not yet given clear support for this investment with a nationwide reach. Despite the fact that the former Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka promised during the opening of the new section of metro A that the state of Prague will support further transport investments. We are waiting for this promise to be fulfilled and I am optimistic, “said Pavel Vyhnánek (Prague himself), Deputy Mayor for Budget.
On that occasion, he drew attention to a recent published study of the Poor City of Prague. Its purpose is to prove that in terms of redistribution of public finances, Prague is worse off than other European cities, in which, among other things, locals are common to express more than half of the government or the EU on new lines.
“With metro D, there is a risk that, contrary to what is common practice, at least in Europe, all costs would have to be borne by Prague. That would not be acceptable or fair, “added Vyhnánek, adding that such a scenario would jeopardize the implementation of all other possible sections of the metro.
On the other hand, the vice-president of the YES movement club commented on the “dramatic increase in costs” of the project within a few years.
“On behalf of former mayor Adriana Krnáčová, the construction of eight stations with a depot and trains for 39 billion crowns was prepared,” Ondřej Prokop reminded. “And now the council has approved the construction of only five stations without a depot for a price exceeding 52 billion. So for the incomparably more money, the Roasted will get much less, and I’m curious how the city administration will defend it. This is definitely not possible to play with inflation, “said the deputy.
The representative also expressed doubts about the recently completed comparable projects in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Warsaw, Poland, where new metro lines were built, including trains and technologies for 10.5 and 19.5 billion crowns, respectively.
Outstanding objections
According to Adam Scheinherr, however, the justification of the expected inflation during the eight years of construction and also the increase in the price of construction work in recent years represent the sum of almost almost new price increases compared to the calculation from the last election period.
“The price of 52 billion counts on inflation, while all previous estimates were without inflation. The costs are not determined by the policy and the current price levels are as they are, “Scheinherr argued.
The Transport Company (DPP) can start excavating the tunnels once the objections of the three entities at the two offices have been resolved. The complaint with ÚHOS has been going on for over a year, and last summer DPP announced the first postponement of the construction, justified at that time by, among other things, the coronavirus pandemic.
“Before the coronary crisis, we said that we would like to start this September. According to the current development, we could start building in the optimistic variant in the spring of next year, according to the pessimistic one half a year later, ie in the autumn of next year, “said DPP spokesman Dan Šabík less than a year ago.
the optimistic variant has shifted now to this autumn and the pessimistic one to spring next year. Meanwhile, a geological survey of the project is still underway in two locations. In the next decades, at least two more sections of metro D with five new stations are planned.