The Railway Administration (SŽ) did not respect the regulations of the Ministry of Transport, when a few weeks ago it announced a competition for the modernization of the line in Prague between Bubna railway station and Výstaviště. It significantly increased the price compared to the approved value of the project in the central commission. The General Director of the Railway Administration, Jiří Svoboda, must present a systemic solution that has such a mistake for the next time.

The investment project was approved by the Central Commission in November 2019 at a cost of 3,086 billion crowns. However, in mid-November this year, the railway administration announced a competition with a ceiling of 3.8 billion crowns. This is 23% more than the approved budget.

“There was thus an increase in costs above 10%, which was to be approved by the Ministry of Transport in accordance with the relevant departmental regulation and the instructions of the Minister of Transport.” said František Jemelka, a spokesman for the Ministry of Transport.

Building permit missing

The estimated price is crucial when approving the project itself. I calculate from her whether my investment has an economic return. “SŽ stated that it has not yet prepared an update of the project plan, and from this as yet unfinished update it can already be done that the construction will still be economically efficient even with the increase of the total amount to CZK 3.4 billion. SŽ then multiplied this budget by a coefficient of 1.15, on the grounds that it took into account the local, temporal, material and functional context of the performance,“Added Jemelka.

The Ministry of Construction approved two years ago is a condition that the following documentation will contain a more detailed budget for the event, which the Railway Administration will submit to the Ministry and await further decisions.

This is not the only problem with this construction. The railway administration competes with it at a time when it does not have a valid building permit for the construction. It may happen that he selects a contractor and the project starts to change. This can lead to further expensive construction.

The Minister ordered to solve the problem of the Board of Directors

According to the spokesman of the Railway Administration Dušan Gavenda, the price was increased during the detailed elaboration of the project, or the elaboration of the project documentation for the construction. “The maximum limit price is based on the construction costs of this stage of project documentation,Gavenda added.

According to him, it is necessary to monitor the costs of this project in the context of the entire set of modernization of the line from Prague to Kladno and to Václav Havel Airport. Especially with regard to maintaining the economic efficiency of the project. “This recalculation is currently underway and we expect it to be discussed within the Central Commission of the Ministry of Transport in the first quarter of next year, “ Gavenda added.

Even after the intervention of the Minister of Transport, Karel Havlíček, the Board of Trustees of the Railway Administration dealt with the circumvention of the regulations. “He sent a letter to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SŽ requesting to discuss the matter with the Director General of the Railway Administration (DG) and to take such measures within the organization’s internal control system so that a similar situation could not recur.” added Jemelka. Last week, the board of directors instructed Svoboda to submit a proposal for a systemic solution that would make it impossible to repeat such a procedure.

Transformation of the whole Holešovice

During the presentation of the project in November, the railway administration stated that it wanted to start next year. During the construction, trains from Kladno will end in Dejvice, traffic to Kralupy will be maintained. It should be done in 2025. “This is the actual beginning of the transformation of the whole Holešovice. The railway station has long divided Holešovice into two disparate parts, the new railway will naturally connect, “ said Jiří Svoboda, director of the Railway Administration.

A new station building and three platforms will be built in Bubny. There will be a total of four tracks. The other tracks, which have been owned by a private developer for a long time, are to disappear. The event also includes a major transformation of the section of the track to the Exhibition Grounds. The crossing in Bubenská Street, which is marked P001 in the Railway Administration’s network, will also disappear. A new Prague-Výstaviště stop will be built on the edge of Stromovka. The route following the flyover is intended to enable further development of the area. The problematic bridging in Dukelských hrdinů Street will also end, where in the past the tram trolleys of truck drivers were repeatedly downloaded due to the low altitude profile.

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