DPP will start building a tram line to the railway station in Podbaba this year

Prague - The Prague Public Transit Company will begin extending the tram line from Podbaba to the planned train stop Prague - Podbaba this year. The company's director, Martin Dvořák, told reporters today after a board meeting that construction work will start in late summer or autumn. According to the transport company's spokesperson, Ilona Vysoudilová, the construction costs will be around 500 million crowns.
    "The extension of the line in Podbaba is imminent," said Dvořák. According to earlier information from the Prague Public Transit Company (DPP), the construction should include about 400 meters of new track, while 300 meters of the current track will also be reconstructed. A new tram loop will also be created. There is consideration for extending the line to Suchdol in the future.
    The main goal of the extension is to create a new transfer point. Passengers arriving in Prague by train from Kralupy nad Vltavou and Roztok would be able to transfer directly to a tram in Podbaba. However, contrary to initial expectations, the Podbaba train stop will be built with a several-year delay according to DPP, so it is not clear when passengers will be able to make the transfer.
    However, DPP does not want to postpone the construction primarily due to the possibility of applying for funds from European funds. They could potentially receive a grant from the operational program Prague - Competitiveness. If the company does not start construction in the near future, it would also have to repair the Podbaba tram loop, which is in poor technical condition.
    The company plans extensive repairs of tram lines this year. Currently, the tracks are being repaired around the Anděl stop and further along Plzeňská street up to the Řepy Housing Estate turnback. Work is also underway in Myslíková street, and during the summer months, the tracks in Spálená street and Národní třída will also be addressed.
    Additionally, the company wants to repair the track in V Olšinách street, in Vyšehradská street between the Moráň and Albertov stops, and around the Exhibition Grounds this year. The DPP board also recommended today that the estacade in Modřany be repaired at the soonest possible date. Traffic had to be halted for several weeks last September due to its emergency condition.
    The last newly built tram line was the extension of the tracks from the Laurová stop to the Radlická metro station in 2008. Five years earlier, DPP activated the line from Hlubočepy to Barrandov. The extent of the tram network has not changed in the last two years.