A Crane Seats the Last Steel Over Nádražní on Two October Nights

The sixteen days that Smíchov's trams are losing come down to two nights of crane work. Správa železnic has told Zdopravy.cz that the remaining steel for the railway bridge over Nádražní will be seated in two stages — the night of 6 to 7 October and the night of 8 to 9 October — inside a works window that opened on Saturday 3 October and closes on Sunday 18 October.

The steel structures will be brought to the site during the night hours. A crane will then seat them one after another on the supports prepared for them.

David Kabele, spokesman, Správa železnic

The works also take in alterations to the tram overhead line, which is part of why the closure is longer than the lifts.

How much bridge is left

This is where the two accounts in circulation do not agree, and it is worth setting out rather than smoothing over. Správa železnic, via Zdopravy.cz, describes the first part as a steel structure 36.5 metres long weighing roughly 170 tonnes, carrying one track and forming one third of the future crossing — which makes the two structures now going in the remaining two thirds. ČT24 describes it as a two-part job instead: the northern portion replaced last year, the southern section receiving its new steel now. Both outlets agree on the finished state. The bridge over Nádražní will carry three tracks.

That is the number the whole stretch turns on. Of the three railway bridges between Smíchovské nádraží and the river, this is the only one being built to three tracks in the current phase. The structures over Svornosti and Strakonická are going in as two-track bridges, and Zdopravy.cz reports that the three-track arrangement over Nádražní is sized to match the capacity of the planned railway bridge over the Vltava. The 1955 structure it replaces is gone.

What runs while it goes in

Trams do not run between Na Knížecí and Smíchovské nádraží from 3 to 18 October. Lines 12 and 15 terminate at Na Knížecí. Line 20 is sent along Radlická, which Zdopravy.cz describes as running via Křížová and ČT24 as turning towards Anděl. Lines 5 and 94 are diverted over Dvorecký most, according to ČT24.

Replacement bus X12 links Anděl, Na Knížecí and Smíchovské nádraží by day, with night bus X90 running Palackého náměstí and Karlovo náměstí to Anděl and Zlíchov. South of the gap, two island tram routes keep the network together: 32 between Slivenec and Smíchovské nádraží, and 40 between Smíchovské nádraží and Modřany. PID publishes the detail.

The bill behind it

The bridge is one line item in the modernisation of Praha-Smíchov station, which Správa železnic puts at about 5.1 billion crowns. Alongside the track, the work covers rebuilt platforms and underpasses, an entirely new fourth platform, and a footbridge across the tracks towards Radlice.

Two nights of lifting is a small thing to set against that figure. It is also the thing that decides how many trains the section can take once Výtoň is settled, which is why a crane over Nádražní in the small hours is worth more attention than a tram diversion usually gets.