Metru D is at risk of delays, the ministry has revoked the rejection of the bias of the magistrate

Prague – The construction of Prague's Metro Line D is facing delays in the start of construction. The Ministry of Transport (MDČR) canceled its own decision from last September on Friday, which had rejected the bias of the city council in deciding on the construction. The decision postpones the issuance of the building permit indefinitely. The case must be reconsidered by the Ministry again. CTK was informed today by the Deputy Mayor Adam Scheinherr (Prague Sobě). The bias issue has been under consideration by the ministry since last year, and it was raised by the association Pankrácká společnost, which disagrees among other things with the Olbrachtova station. The first phase of Metro D will connect Pankrác and Písnice.

"It is important for the ministry to decide as quickly as possible, preferably by the end of June. Otherwise, it may jeopardize the construction schedule of the metro. If it takes longer, the start of construction could be postponed by several months, possibly until next year. Unfortunately, we cannot influence this; it is all out of our hands and is being dealt with by the state administration," Scheinherr said.

The city council submitted documents regarding the alleged bias to the ministry last May. The Department of Rail and Water Transport of the ministry rejected the bias objection in September. However, the organization appealed, and subsequently, the MD's appeal committee annulled the rejection from last September. The ministry will now address the entire matter again.

"Resolving the bias is a crucial issue, and it could very well return to the time when we submitted the building permit application," said Jiří Hrnčíř from the transport company (DPP) at today's meeting of the city council's finance committee. The company reportedly wanted to apply for the building permit this June.

The leadership of the capital city agreed last week to start construction of the first section of Metro Line D from Pankrác to Nové Dvory. The costs should be approximately 52.09 billion crowns, taking inflation into account. The transport company (DPP) completed part of the geological survey in Pankrác last summer, and the entire survey will be completed this September.

In the first phase, the metro will be built between Pankrác and Nové Dvory and will then continue to the Písnice Depot. In the future, a section from Pankrác to Náměstí Míru is planned to be built. It has not yet been decided where the metro will go from Náměstí Míru. One of the options was Náměstí Republiky, while another suggested the route would head to Žižkov and further to Vysočany. The total estimated cost, according to this year's update, is 97.79 billion crowns, and the investor is DPP.