The renovated historical building of the main station in Pilsen will open to the public this year

Plzeň - The heritage-protected building of the main railway station in Plzeň, dating from 1907, will open to the public this year after reconstruction. All passenger spaces will be fully operational in December. The costs of the two-year repairs will exceed 700 million crowns. Ticket sales will move in the first half of July from the upper to the lower hall under the stairs, as construction work begins on the upper floor. Commercial units will open in spring 2024, with tenants being selected through a competition, said Petr Toman from the investors' Railway Administration (SŽ), Western Construction Administration, during a site visit to ČTK today. Two-thirds of the work is completed.

"Access to the new ticket counters will lead through corridors under the spatial scaffolding, so passengers need to prepare for smaller waiting areas. This situation will last until December," said SŽ spokesperson Nela Friebová. On the upper floor, a passage corridor to the elevators will be created to maintain access for passengers to the platforms, while on the lower level, it will lead to the area of the new ticket offices.

"In July, we will hand over a larger part of the premises to the operator, the Railway Administration and Czech Railways, which will include offices on the second and third floors and ticket counters for the public, tucked away in the main hall's interior, as well as public restrooms and other spaces for service staff around the main dome," said construction manager Miroslav Kšír from Metrostav.

The eastern part of the station building is finished, and since May, two smaller side domes have also been completed. According to Kšír, complex work included complete ceiling replacements in all structures. The reconstruction of the central large dome has been the longest, lasting 1.5 years and expected to be completed by October. The work was mainly prolonged by the replacement of insufficient wooden framing. The domes had not been reconstructed for a full 116 years, and builders are adding decorative elements from the Art Nouveau period. Similarly, original features will be added to the lower hall according to period photographs, where flooring with ornamented mosaics has already begun. Heritage conservators are particularly overseeing the final phase of the construction.

Builders are not facing material shortages as they stocked up in advance. "This is a prestigious contract for us and SŽ, one of the VIP terminal buildings in the Czech Republic. Apart from Sundays, work is ongoing non-stop, with 145 people on site every day," Kšír said. According to Toman, the situation is worse with craftsmen, as there are too few roofers and stucco workers, and there are no young newcomers among them. Challenging roofs that were in critical condition are 80 percent complete, with the facade on the western front being finalized, while the remaining facades, including decorative elements and paintings, will be finished by the end of the year.

"We are entering the final third of the work. The entire construction is quite complicated due to the historical nature of the object," said regional director of SŽ Radek Makovec. Builders are uncovering places that the building owner was not aware of. Since 1907, the station building has not undergone any major renovations, only operational adjustments. Only after World War II was the main dome repaired after it was hit by a bomb. "The upper hall was also constructed in a provisional state, and now we are giving it a completely new appearance," he added. It is considered one of SŽ's "top" buildings. More than half of the funds for its repair are provided by the European Recovery Fund.

The reconstruction completes the modernization of the entire station, where builders have been modernizing the tracks and platforms since 2011. "A functional modern station is a huge opportunity for the development of the entire city," said SŽ General Director Jiří Svoboda. According to Makovec, SŽ is about to sign a contract with the fast-food chain KFC, which will rent the main restaurant connected to an outdoor garden, and has signed a contract with Knihy Dobrovský, while Bakery Malinová from Plzeň will have a large café, all in the upper hall.