The Prague City Hall has suspended the construction proceedings for the metro line D

Prague - The Prague City Council temporarily suspended the construction permit for the metro line D to Písnice for 18 months in July. This was confirmed by Deputy Mayor Petr Dolínek (ČSSD) in response to a question from ČTK. The reason is primarily the delay in acquiring land needed for the construction. It is unclear what this will mean for the start of work. The first phase of the construction of metro line D, which will connect the city center with the southern part of the city, was originally expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

"The construction office requested the provision of some information regarding ownership relations and also some technical information," said Dolínek. According to him, the problem lies in the acquisition of land around Písnice and Thomayer Hospital, which is owned by seven owners. "An agreement with these owners has not yet been reached. However, we have resolved dozens of plots," the deputy added.

To build metro line D, it is necessary to acquire about 800 plots of land. The recently dismissed director of the transport company, Jaroslav Ďuriš, said in an interview with ČTK last year that land acquisitions are "one of the Achilles' heels" of the construction of metro line D. A year ago, he estimated that the city would acquire all the necessary plots by this September.

The route of metro line D will run from Náměstí Míru to Písnice. The first section to be built will be from Pankrác to the Depo Písnice station, followed by the phase from Pankrác to Náměstí Míru. In total, there will be ten new stations. The new line will feature driverless trains. Project designers estimate the costs at approximately 50 billion crowns. The newly opened metro A stations to Motol cost about 20 billion crowns last year.