In around three months, the next section of the railway line from central Prague to Václav Havel Airport will be put into operation. On the stretch between Prague-Bubny and Výstaviště, all overpasses are almost complete; the installation of escalators and the final interior works at the new Bubny station are currently under way.
Two years ago, workers began modernising the line, which has fundamentally changed the appearance of Holešovice. ‘The entire construction, including the two new stations, is already taking its final shape. Everything is therefore on track for trains to return to the line on the first of August. Passengers will then be able to use both the modern station at Bubny and the new platforms at the Holešovice Exhibition Centre (Výstaviště),’ says Transport Minister Martin Kupka.
Completion of the new station building in Holešovice, which measures an impressive 250 x 50 metres, is underway. The platforms are being tiled, passenger shelters installed, and lift shafts, escalators and glass railings fitted. The areas for commercial units are also being prepared.
In the coming weeks, the information and orientation systems and furniture will be installed. Work will also be carried out on the external staircases and access routes, and the green areas will be laid out.
The new railway station at Bubny is connected by three double-track bridge overpasses. All of them have already been structurally completed, including the railings and noise barriers; the tracks are currently being laid. At the future platform near the exhibition grounds, workers are laying paving stones and installing shelters, railings and lift shafts.
‘Thanks to the new overpasses, the busy crossing on Bubenská Street was removed last year. The railway embankment that used to separate the surrounding buildings disappeared, and a new connection was created between Letná and Holešovice via Nicholas Winton Street,’ says Jiří Svoboda, General Director of the Railway Administration. ‘At the beginning of June, we will open a pedestrian bridge and walkway to the new Prague–Výstaviště stop,’ adds Svoboda.
The construction is part of the Prague–Airport–Kladno project, which consists of eleven individual stages. The reconstruction of the Negrelli Viaduct has already been completed; the extensive reconstruction of Masaryk Station and the line from Bubny to Výstaviště is underway, and modernisation between the Kladno and Kladno-Ostrovec stations is also in progress. The Railway Administration plans to start the complete modernisation of the line from Prague-Ruzyně to Kladno this year. Václav Havel Airport is expected to be accessible by train from Prague from 2030.
More information on the individual stages of the Prague–Airport–Kladno project can be found on the recently launched website zeleznicenaletiste.cz (CZ).
