Prague has halted the preparation of the new metro station Depo Zličín, Prague Sobě criticizes this

Prague - The Prague Public Transport Company (DPP) has halted work on the preparation of the new metro station Depo Zličín at the behest of the city’s leadership. This was announced to ČTK by Adam Scheinherr, chairman of the opposition group Prague Sobě, and confirmed by Deputy Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates). According to Hřib, there are not enough passengers in the area for the new station to make economic and transportation sense. Scheinherr, who initiated the station's preparation during his previous term as a city deputy, criticizes the decision.

The station was to become the new terminus of metro line B and utilize the existing tracks leading to the Zličín depot. Depo Zličín was to be one of the few surface stations of the Prague metro, and a large P+R parking facility was to be built next to it.

According to Scheinherr, the metro would then come closer to the emerging residential construction, and the station would also serve as a transfer point for drivers parking in the new P+R garage as well as for passengers from suburban lines. DPP had previously announced an architectural competition for the design of the station, and according to Scheinherr, it has already signed a contract with the designer and received zoning approval for the station at the end of June.

In June, the city leadership approved an update of the investments included in the so-called sustainable mobility plan, in which the station is no longer listed. According to Hřib, the reason for the decision was the lack of sufficient passengers. "Empty trains would mainly carry air with a significant rise in operating costs. The P+R for 600 vehicles would then generate a maximum of around 1,000 passengers, which is less than what a single metro train would transport," the deputy mayor stated.

He added that because of this, the city would not be able to secure European funding for the construction of the station. Instead of the original intention, DPP will only modernize the depot while the tracks will still allow for the construction of the station in the future. "The use of the zoning approval in the future, when this station makes sense, is therefore not excluded," Hřib stated. He added that the city is still negotiating for the construction of a P+R parking lot in the Zličín area, but at a different location.

Scheinherr criticizes the decision to halt the already initiated preparation of the station. "The recently obtained final zoning permit is a great result of DPP's work, unfortunately for Prague residents with a bitter taste. Literally, it would have been enough to do nothing, and Prague could have started building a new station within two years. The coalition of ODS and Pirates simply does not know how to launch projects, only to stop them," he stated. He also called on the coalition Together (ODS, TOP 09, KDU-ČS), the Pirates, and STAN, and especially Hřib, to complete the project.

In a similar manner to the proposed station Depo Zličín, the depot Hostivař station was created in 2006 in Strašnice, which DPP built as part of the depot from one of its former halls. In addition to the depots in Hostivař and Zličín, there is also a third one operating in the Prague metro on Kačerov.