According to the new proposal, a high-speed line to Dresden could be avoided by municipalities in the Litoměřice region – ČT24 – Czech Television
“We have reached the stage where we are asking the ministry (transport) to request a change in the update of the principles of territorial development,” said Schiller. The municipalities concerned do not agree with the routes, they do not want the expressway to pass through their territory. Hejtman added that he will work on variants of studies.
The new variant assumes that the route avoids several municipalities. According to the governor, some mayors want to return to the original variant, which will miss the affected municipalities in the Litoměřice region and will not even lead to the regional city.
“Based on the approved feasibility study at the central commission of the Ministry of Transport, we would now, as an eligible investor or the Ministry of Transport itself, proceed to the application for updating the principles of territorial development, where three options would probably be assessed,” said Švehlík. According to him, all three variants meet the objectives of the project, ie the connection of Ústí nad Labem and the transfer of freight transport.
Originally, trains were only supposed to pass Ústí nad Labem
The principles of territorial development of the Ústí nad Labem Region originally defined a corridor for the expressway on the left bank of the Elbe without the connection of the regional city. In the past, the use of the line was planned only for transit. In 2017, the government approved a program for the development of high-speed rail connections, which work with a stop in Ústí nad Labem and improve transport services throughout the region.
The high-speed line is intended to allow trains to run at speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour. Driving time from Prague to Ústí nad Labem should be reduced by about half to 30 minutes. The journey to Dresden should take an hour.