Czech Railway Administration to Invest Billions in New Rail Projects
More money is set to be spent next year primarily on securing land and preparing high-speed rail lines
Photo: Ministerstvo dopravy ČR
More than five billion crowns will be invested in the preparation of new railway projects in the Czech Republic next year. One focus will be on the planned high-speed rail lines.
The Czech Railway Administration (Správa železnic) plans to spend CZK 5.4 billion next year on planning and the property-related preparation of new railway projects. The overall amount will therefore remain roughly at this year's level, although the allocation of funds will change significantly.
A growing share of the budget is to be spent on acquiring and securing the necessary land and on planning the proposed high-speed rail lines. Compared with 2022, expenditure on the preparation of railway projects has increased significantly. At that time, it amounted to just under CZK 2 billion. More than two and a half times that amount is therefore planned for next year. According to the Railway Administration, spending on the preparation of high-speed rail lines is increasing particularly sharply.
“Money will also be available for the preparation of construction projects in the coming years. However, we do not want to develop projects for which there is neither realistic financing nor a specific implementation date,” said Tomáš Tóth, Director General of Správa železnic.
The aim is to focus financial resources and planning capacity more strongly on projects that can actually be implemented. At the same time, the preparation of high-speed rail lines is increasingly entering a new phase, which is also reflected in the rising expenditure.
According to Tóth, it is not only the number of projects being prepared that should play a role. The quality of the planning documents and a realistic link between planning and subsequent implementation are also important. The Railway Administration wants to align its projects more closely with the available budgetary resources and the capacity of the planning sector.
Správa železnic is also planning changes to the awarding of planning contracts. In future, greater emphasis is to be placed on so-called value engineering. This is intended to identify solutions during the planning stage that deliver the greatest possible benefit while using public funds as efficiently as possible.
Planning firms are therefore to be encouraged more strongly during tender procedures to propose alternative and economically viable solutions.
