A Fourth Track Into Prague From the East Goes to Tender for 323 Million

Správa železnic has launched the tender for the design of a fourth track on the railway corridor between Praha-Běchovice and Praha-Libeň, Zdopravy.cz reported on 24 October. The estimated value of the contract is 323,008,677 crowns. The winning designer will produce the documentation for the construction permit and for execution, and will carry out a detailed engineering-geological survey.

The contract follows documentation for the zoning decision that was completed this year, and moves the scheme into its next phase. If preparation and permitting go to plan, Správa železnic says construction could begin in the second half of 2029.

What the fourth track is for

The existing corridor has three tracks along the whole section. The plan adds one more, on the south side, so that trains can be sorted by what they do rather than sharing the same rails. The inner pair of tracks will carry long-distance and, where it runs, accelerated regional traffic. The outer pair is primarily for regional trains that stop at the intermediate stations. Freight is to be moved off the corridor onto the Praha-Libeň – Praha-Malešice line and the Jahodnická spojka to Běchovice.

Prague needs a railway that can cope with the growing number of suburban services and with future high-speed traffic. It is precisely the section between Běchovice and Libeň that is key to further development. The fourth track will let us better separate the different kinds of train, increase the capacity of the line and provide a more reliable connection not only for passengers in Prague but also for those arriving from other parts of the country.

— Tomáš Tóth, director general of Správa železnic

The section is one of two ways high-speed trains are meant to enter the capital from the east. The other is the new line known as VRT Praha, which will run from Běchovice towards Zahradní Město and Vršovice. The two are being prepared together with the high-speed line from Běchovice to Poříčany and with the Libeňský přesmyk, a flyover on the Libeň – Malešice line.

Why the south side

According to the project's authors, adding the track on the north side would be harder, because in Dolní Počernice, Hostavice and Kyje homes, gardens, buildings and streets run right up to the line. The south side also matches what is already being prepared at Běchovice station for the high-speed line towards Polabí, and the Libeňský přesmyk, which should already be in service when construction on the fourth track begins.

For passengers the changes are concentrated at the stations. Praha-Libeň gets a fourth platform, and an extended underpass will give access to it from both sides of the tracks. The stops at Praha-Kyje and Praha-Dolní Počernice will be rearranged and made step-free. At Běchovice, both the station and the Praha-Běchovice střed stop are affected where the corridor joins the planned high-speed line to Brno. The first negotiations with owners of affected land are expected next year.

The speed is still a disputed figure

The two Zdopravy.cz reports on this scheme give different speeds, and we have not been able to reconcile them. Today's report says the line will be used by high-speed trains, but at lower speed because of the surrounding buildings, with a line speed of 100 to 160 km/h. In July, reporting on the environmental screening, the same outlet gave the planned maximum as 130 km/h for passenger trains and 100 km/h for freight.

The speed is not a technical footnote, because it is what the objectors have fought over. In July the environment ministry decided that the project — formally "RS 1 Modernizace Praha-Běchovice – Praha-Libeň" — cannot avoid a full EIA assessment, after a screening procedure that had run since April and drew a large number of comments from authorities and the public. The AutoMat association said the plan did not adequately consider its effect on walking, cycling and how easily people can cross the area. Hrdlořezská zvonička, the group most active against the Libeňský přesmyk, warned of cumulative effects with every other railway project planned in the area as far as Balabenka.

Given the expected effects of the project on the environment and public health, it is not possible to issue a favourable EIA opinion on the project in its submitted form.

— Hrdlořezská zvonička, in its comments in the screening procedure, as reported by Zdopravy.cz

The group also asked for today's maximum train speed to be made a binding condition for later proceedings, so that noise does not rise further. The traffic forecast in the July documentation explains why the stakes are high on both sides: 561 trains a day on the corridor in thirty years' time, and 566 in fifty.

Today's report does not say where the EIA now stands. What it does show is that Správa železnic is paying for construction-level design while that question, and the speed the line is designed for, remain open in the public record.

A note on the names

Zdopravy.cz today calls the Běchovice–Libeň corridor the northern branch of VRT Praha, and the Vršovice–Běchovice line the southern branch. In September the same outlet applied the "northern branch" label to Vršovice–Běchovice, and so did our own report on that tender. The sections themselves are not in doubt; the labels are, and we name them here by their end points.