In Pilsen, a major reconstruction of the main train station has begun

Plzeň - In Plzeň, a major reconstruction of the main train station began at the beginning of March. Platforms 3 and 4 have been closed for travelers for approximately five months. Immediately after the new platforms are opened, a four-month renovation of platforms 1 and 2 will start in August, along with the construction of a second underpass from Šumavská Street and a luggage tunnel, said Tomáš Princ, spokesman for a.s. Skanska, today to ČTK. The company is the general contractor for the repair of tracks and platforms in the direction of Prague, meaning a two-year project costing 1.68 billion crowns.
    "The sum includes the main station, the Prague head, the classification station, a stretch of track to Prague, a stretch of track to České Budějovice, and the building of safety equipment including technology and cableway," stated the project manager of Skanska, Jan Mitlöhner. The reconstruction of four platforms, including roofing, which is to be completed by the end of the year, will cost 150 million crowns.
    "The Plzeň Node 1 project is a demanding project that will significantly transform the railway transport in Plzeň after more than 100 years," said Jakub Ptačinský, spokesman for the investor, the Railway Infrastructure Administration. Currently, it is the most extensive reconstruction of a station in the country; it will necessitate operational restrictions.
    The complete renewal of the eastern section of the station will allow for a significant increase in train speeds from 20 kilometers per hour to 80 kilometers per hour. Complex switch constructions, extensive station tracks, and associated sections as well as two bridges - Gambrinus and Jateční - will be reconstructed. The safety of the railway node will be enhanced by a new safety system, for which a new single-storey building of the central signaling cabin is being completed, from which all operations at the station will be electronically controlled. "This is in replacement of several buildings where dispatchers worked, plus the electrical section," said project coordinator Tomáš Havel. Technology is already being moved into this most significant ground facility.
    "Cables are everywhere, and no one really knows what runs through them. They have been laid here for nearly 100 years, and even the oldest ones are still functional," Havel said. All will be replaced and will run through a cableway between the central signaling cabin and the station.
    The main station is a cultural monument, and therefore the reconstruction must respect the requirements to preserve the appearance of the station, especially concerning the reconstruction of the roofing of the platforms, built in 1907 in the style of geometric Art Nouveau. "We are refurbishing the cast-iron columns and will install a new metal roof," Havel said.