The construction of metro line D will begin first in the section Pankrác - Olbrachtova

Prague - The Supervisory Board of the Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) today decided that the construction of the metro line D will start first in the section from Pankrác to Olbrachtova. Subsequently, the remaining section to Písnice will be built. Representatives of the city and DPP told ČTK this. The reason is that it is easiest to acquire the necessary land in this section. Construction is expected to begin in two years. Metro D is intended to alleviate the overloaded line C and connect the city center with residential areas in the south of the city. Project designers preliminarily estimate the costs for the entire route to be around 50 billion crowns.

"Today the Supervisory Board approved the variant that we discussed at the board meeting last Wednesday," stated DPP CEO Martin Gillar. The decision of the Supervisory Board does not need to be approved by the city council or the municipality's assembly. They will only be informed of it.

According to Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO), construction will begin in two years. "This variant looks like the best possible solution because if everything goes according to plan, we could start building as early as 2019. In the first phase, we will also test the metro with automatic operation," she stated.

The transit company will now begin addressing the geological survey of the construction. "Next year, exploratory excavations will take place, and subsequently, a tunnel will be drilled to the Olbrachtova stop," said Deputy Mayor Petr Dolínek (ČSSD). The city plans to announce the survey to the mining authority in February 2018. Concurrently with the surveys, a tender for the construction contractor should be launched. According to the previously approved schedule, once construction begins from Pankrác to Písnice, work on the next stage, namely the drilling of tunnels from Písnice to the city center, should commence.

This year, DPP commissioned an analysis of four construction variants, and the one approved today came out on top. Other options included the construction of a line from Pankrác to Nové Dvory, with the remaining section to Písnice to be built afterwards. Another option was to construct the section from Pankrác to Písnice; however, no stations would be built where there is a problem with land acquisitions – trains would pass under the locations where they are supposed to be. In the final variant, a tunnel would be built from Pankrác to Písnice, but three stations would not be constructed as initially planned, instead, they would be tunnel-bored.

The city has long-standing problems with land acquisitions. Only this year it was possible to negotiate an agreement with the owners, allowing them to permit Prague to build the metro, while they will also be allowed to undertake development projects in Krč, for example.

In addition to the section from Pankrác to Písnice, metro D will also run from Pankrác to Náměstí Míru. The construction of this part of the route has not yet been decided. The new line will feature driverless trains.