Prague metro Line D tunnel connection with Line C has been completed, the public transport company DPP announced as a milestone for the construction of the new line.
The builder managed to connect the line with the existing Line C in two places, from the C-D junction by breaking into the front wall of the right-hand track tunnel opening behind the Pankrác station (on Line C) in the direction of Budějovická and from the surface from the construction pit in front of OC Arkády by breaking into the non-public part of the Pankrác station. With this step, all excavations in the inter-station section were also completed.
“This is a historic milestone in the construction of metro Line D, which is currently the largest transport investment in the Czech Republic. We have completed the excavation of all track tunnels and now only the Pankrác and Olbrachtova stations need such works. Trains to the Kačerov depot on line D will run through the new connecting tunnel every day until the Písnice depot is put into operation. For this reason, the compatibility of trains on both lines must be ensured, and that is why we are also preparing an automatic metro without drivers for both routes,” said Zdeněk Hřib, Chairman of the DPP supervisory board.
In the interstation section, all excavations have already been completed of all the track tunnels. As a result, in the interstation section, work will be carried out mainly on the installation of insulation and the realisation of the final lining of the bottom and vault of the tunnels.
The construction of the first section of Line D has been going on for about 30 months. Currently, a total of approximately 2,600 meters of tunnels and approximately 84% of the total volume of excavations have been excavated.
The 468 Prague metro Line D tunnel, a single track connection between the two lines, will be used for the service of line D and service trains until the time when its own Písnice depot is built. Until then, trains will be dispatched from the current Kačerov depot. The C-D junction opens into the right track tunnel of the existing route C, into the so-called branching fork, which was built approximately 30 metres behind the Pankrác station in the early 1970s.
The tunnel section that connects the two stations (Pankrác and Olbrachtova) is a combination of single-track and a double-track tunnel, which includes an air-technical tunnel. In addition, a new transfer corridor will be created between the Pankrác C and D stations, connected to the escalator transfer tunnel.
In the coming months, works will be continued for tunnels at Olbrachtov and Pankrác stations, being completed two exit escalator tunnels and by the end of this year, an escalator tunnel for the transfer between Pankrác D and C stations will also be excavated, with a length including the access corridor of 26 metres.
At Olbrachtov future station, the excavations of both station tunnels were completed at the end of September, each 210 metres long, including the last connecting link between them. 76% of the total volume of excavations at the station is currently completed and excavations will continue at this station, especially in the non-public part of the station through the technology tunnel in the northern direction, and further on both escalator tunnels.
Prague Metro Line D will be 10.6 km long with ten stations, eight of which will be constructed with the first section from the existing Pankrác station to Nové Dvory, and from here, the line will go be extended towards Depo Písnice and later from Pankrác to Náměstí Míru, connecting the central part of the city with south area.
Due to its complexity, the project is carried out under three stages (D1, D2 and D3) and is split into four sections (D1a Pankrác – Olbrachtova; D1b Olbrachtova – Nové Dvory) with access tunnels from the Písnice depot location; D2 Nové Dvory – Depot Písnice and D3 Pankrác – Náměstí Miru.
The construction for the first section between Pankrác and Olbrachtova (3 km with two stations) was launched in 2022. A consortium of Subterra, Hochtief, Strabag and Ed. Züblin is responsible for this section under a CZK 13.75 billion (EUR 543 million, in current prices) contract awarded in 2021.
In the Autumn of 2023, DPP selected a EUR 1.2 billion (almost CZK 30 billion) bid submitted by a consortium of Subterra, Hochtief and BeMo Tunnelling to build the 3.3 km Olbrachtova – Nové Dvory section. In August 2024, DPP announced a detailed re-evaluation of the bid due to the submission of objections of an unsuccessful bidder. The second evaluation was the offer submitted by the association led by Strabag.
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