The reconstructed exit from the Na Knížecí metro station has reopened in Prague
The work started last November and cost 259 million crowns without VAT, a third of which the company received from European funds. Representatives of the DPP management and the municipality told the press in the repaired area. In the past, the company has already repaired the vestibule and replaced the escalators towards the crossroads near Anděl and is preparing repairs at other stations, such as Jiřího z Poděbrad or Florenc.
Work at the station consistently in the replacement of escalators and the tube in which they are located, and generally repair the vestibule up to street level. The ugly and, according to DPP representatives, not much used business premises have disappeared from the space and the whole hall is now vacant. A display case was created in the back, where the company requires exhibitions.
According to Deputy Mayor for Transport Adam Scheinherr (Prague Sobě), the reconstruction made sure that the station returned to its original form intended by the designers. “This is the first time that we have involved the architect of the metro, Anna Švarc, in the work,” he said. “A very bright vestibule was created here, which is no longer crowded with cheap commercial premises,” he added.
According to Petr Witowski, CEO of DPP, the work also included the preparation of a new exit from the station towards Stroupežnického Street, which previously replaced two exits towards Women’s Homes. According to the director, they no longer need them due to the development started by the Sekyra Group around Knížecí. That is why DPP now does not even plan to modify the bus station itself, which as a result should disappear and move to the planned new transport terminal at Smíchovské nádraží.
Scheinherr added that the city wants to repair one to two subway stations a year. According to Witowski, 18 of them have been repaired so far in the metro system, which has 61 stations and a total of 76 vestibules. The company is also gradually replacing the old Soviet escalators with new ones, the director says 46 remains to be replaced.
The company is currently preparing the reconstruction of other stations. He has already started an internship at the Jiřího z Poděbrad station, which will finally close in January 2023, for ten months. The repair will cost the company 1.29 billion crowns and will end in February 2024. According to Witowski, DPP is now also competing for a contractor for the reconstruction of ceiling tiles and the reconstruction of the Florenc station vestibule. He would like to select a supplier by the end of the year.