The European Investment Bank (EIB) is proposing a EUR 500 million loan for the construction of Prague – Kladno railway line which is split into several subprojects.
EUR 1.35 billion is the total eligible costs of the project which consists of the modernisation of the railway line between Praha-Veleslavin and Praha-Ruzyne, the construction of new railway line between Praha-Ruzyne and Václav Havel Airport Prague railway station, including construction of the station. The project also involves the construction of the railway rounding link from the airport to the Prague – Kladno railway. It is part of a larger project aimed at connecting the city centre of Prague with the Vaclav Havel Airport Prague and Kladno, a city situated 16 km northwest of the airport and 30 km northwest of Prague city centre.
In 2021, Správa železnic has launched the tender for the construction of the rail section from Kladno to Kladno-Ostrovec including the reconstruction of the track facility and the station building at Kladno station. The construction will include a complete reconstruction of the section, its double-tracking and electrification. Approximately 5.3 kilometres of the railway line will be modernised. Buildings at the stops Kladno město (town) and Kladno-Ostrovec will be repaired as well. In 2022, SZ signed a contract worth CZK 3.7 billion (EUR 145.4 million, in current prices) with the company Společnost Kladno, which consists of Eurovia CS as administrator and Strabag Rail and Elektrizace železnic Praha as partners. The work is to be completed by the end of this year.
Under the project, Kladno railway station will be modernised and new platforms and a barrier-free pedestrian underpass will be built. The interior of the building will be reconstructed, which will allow the creation of safe and comfortable spaces for passengers or more commercial services. The Kladno město stop will be moved towards the centre of Kladno, essentially a new stop will be created. A new transfer hub for public transport will be built directly at the stop.
Správa železnic also develops the modernisation and construction of Praha-Ruzyně – Praha-Letiště Václava Havla (Prague-Václav Havel Airport) railway. On the railway branching of Kladno railway station, the current stage will be followed by the next one, namely the modernisation of the line Praha-Ruzyně – Kladno. It is currently at the phase of preparing documents for the construction permit and will be implemented until 2025. The next stage will include the modernisation of the line section Praha-Veleslavín – Praha-Ruzyně. A new railway station Praha-Veleslavín will be built, whose open architecture will create a comfortable and transparent environment for passengers and thanks to its multi-level design it will become a high-capacity transport hub enabling transfer from trains to the metro and other Prague public transport lines.
The project is implemented between 2024 and 2027.
A tunnel will replace the current line between the stations Praha-Dejvice and Praha-Veleslavín between 2025 and 2029. The Praha-Dejvice station will be newly built as an underground station. The project also includes the construction of Praha-Bubny and the new Praha-Výstaviště stop.
The project to implement the work on the Praha-Bubny – Praha-Výstaviště section is 85% co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility representing EUR 101.3 million of the total eligible costs of CZK 2.96 billion (EUR 123.7 million). The remaining financing is covered by the state through the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure.
In January 2023, Správa železnic awarded a EUR 159 million contract to a comsortium comprising Metrostav TBR, OHLA ŽS and Elektrizace železnic Praha for the modernisation, electrification and track-doubling of the 1.3 km section between Praha-Bubny and Výstaviště.
In september 2023, the modernisation of the railway to Kladno with a branch to Václav Havel Airport was in full swing. The reconstructed sections Kladno – Kladno – Ostrovec and Praha-Bubny – Praha-Výstaviště were under construction.
In July 2024 traffic resumed on the Kladno and Kladno-Ostrovec section, on which works were carried out from November 2022 and are co-financed by the European Union from the Cohesion Fund under the Programme Transport 2021–2027.
The project to modernise the railway from Prague to Kladno with the connection to Václav Havel Airport is divided into more than ten sections. Between 2017 and 2020, the Negrelli viaduct underwent reconstruction, and in 2022 the reconstruction of the line between Kladno and Kladno-Ostrovec stations began. In 2023, SZ launched tenders for the construction of Prague-Ruzyně – Kladno and the modernisation of the Prague Masarykovo nádraží station.
Under the 2022 CEF Transport call for proposals the modernisation and completion of the railway station Masarykovo nádraží secured a EUR 103.76 million co-financing. In addition, under the 2023 CEF Transport call for proposals, the project obtained a EUR 9.55 million co-financing for the installation of ETCS L2 on 19 km of tracks in the Masarykovo station of Praha and the deployment of trackside ETCS L2 in the Praha-Liben–Praha Masarykovo nádraží–Praha-Bubny–Praha-Holešovice section over a total length of 27.6 km of double track. The project is of great importance as it covers works for the upgrade of the railway infrastructure components of the Praha Masarykovo nádraží terminus railway station which is part of the Core Network Urban Node of Prague in Czechia.
The station’s project should be followed by work in the section Prague-Ruzyně – Prague Václav Havel Airport and on the new construction of the station directly at the airport. From 2025, the reconstruction of three sections between the new Praha-Výstaviště stop and the Praha-Ruzyně station is planned. Finally, the so-called loop will enable a direct connection between the airport and Kladno.
The 15 km Prague – Kladno railway line project is implemented under PPP model including the design, build, financing and maintenance of the rail sections. It is expected that the entire project will be completed in 2030. It should be noted that in September 2024, the Ministry of Transport, SŽ and the EBRD presented country’s first PPP rail project covering the modernisation of Praha Veleslavín – Ruzyně section, with continuation towards the Václav Havel Airport.
The reconstruction of the line from the centre of Prague to Kladno will be followed by a new construction, electrification and double-tracking of the 4 km Praha-Ruzyně – Praha-Letiště Václava Havla. The contract for this section was awarded to AFRY CZ and AF-Infrastructure AB consortium and includes the construction of Praha-Dlouhá Míle new stop. This will be implemented from 2024 to 2029. A new transfer terminal Dlouhá Míle with a park & ride facility. In 2026, work should start on the creation of the circular loop line of the railway connection to Prague Airport. The railway link from the airport towards Jeneč will enable its direct connection to Kladno.
Prague – Kladno railway project is essential for Kladno, which is the largest city in the Central Bohemia Region. The entire line will be electrified and double tracked which will bring a significant alternative to the current individual car transport. According to calculations, 2.5 thousand cars, which are used for transport from Kladno to Prague and back today, will be reduced in the streets of Prague every day. More than 16,000 people commute to Prague every day, not only from Kladno but also from surrounding municipalities.
Share on:
