A massive power outage affected large parts of the Czech Republic on Friday afternoon, with Prague particularly hard hit. Public transport in the capital came to a complete standstill at times.
Firefighters and rescue services were called out repeatedly to free people trapped in lifts. On the right bank of the Vltava River, all public transport came to a halt – trams, underground trains and trolleybuses were, or still are, out of service.
According to Hana Klímová, spokesperson for the state-owned grid operator ČEPS, the outage affected large parts of north-eastern Bohemia. Power was also cut in the Ústí region, including cities such as Ústí nad Labem and Teplice.
The Liberec Region (Liberecký kraj) was also impacted, with outages reported in parts of Liberec, Jablonec and Česká Lípa. Trams in Liberec have been suspended due to the power failure. According to ČT24, the Olomouc district has also been affected.
In Prague, outages were reported in several districts during the early afternoon, including the city centre, Spořilov and Jižní Město. According to the energy supplier Pražská energetika (PRE), the cause was a fault in part of the ČEPS switchgear in the Chodov district. Technicians are on site, but it is currently unclear how long repairs will take.
The transport authority stated that all metro lines (A, B and C) on the eastern side of the city were temporarily out of service but are now operating again, as is most of the above-ground local transport. Authorities are asking passengers to be patient and to use alternative routes where possible. Further information on public transport in Prague is available at www.dpp.cz.
