A CZK 58,000 Recalculation Clears the Prague–Liberec Railway to Keep Moving

The slowest important railway out of Prague has survived an unexpected challenge to its business case. Správa železnic commissioned a recalculation of the economics of the Mladá Boleslav – Turnov – Liberec modernisation in July, the result confirms the project pays for itself, and preparation continues. Zdopravy.cz reported the outcome on 28 August; the recalculation cost CZK 58,000.

What was in doubt

The variant now being prepared — 200PF in the feasibility study for the Mladá Boleslav – Turnov – Liberec – state border line — was approved by the Ministry of Transport's central commission in 2023, on the strength of what was by then the eighteenth study of this connection. Its economic case counted on a volume of freight running north into Poland.

ŽESNAD.cz, the association of rail freight operators, pointed out that this traffic may not materialise. That is the kind of objection that can quietly stall a project for years, because an approved variant whose inputs no longer hold is an approved variant nobody wants to sign a contract against.

Správa železnic put the question to Valbek SK. Under the terms of the commission the return was to be recalculated twice over: once with zero traffic between Czechia and Cottbus, the German town on the Polish border, and once with half the originally assumed volume on that relation. In the first case the benefits counted are passenger benefits alone.

Správa železnic has reviewed the economic assessment of the project and confirmed the economic efficiency of the approved variant. On the basis of earlier negotiations with the Liberec Region, project preparation of the modernisation of the line on the Mladá Boleslav – Turnov – Liberec section therefore continues.

— Nela Friebová, spokeswoman, Správa železnic

What happens next

The tender for the permitting documentation and for running the EIA process on the Mladá Boleslav – Turnov section is to be issued this year. Engineering-geological surveys are being commissioned now, in a first stage covering the same section, and they are the prerequisite for everything that follows.

Správa železnic also says the requirements of affected municipalities and city districts will be examined and incorporated during preparation, and that it is preparing a GIS information portal where the public, municipalities and other interested parties can follow progress and send in comments and questions.

Why this is a Prague story

None of the construction is in Prague. The relevance is at the other end of the line: this is the connection between the capital and the only region in the country without a single kilometre of electrified track, and the train from Prague to Liberec currently takes roughly twice as long as the car.

The counterweight to today's news is the record. Preparation of a better Prague–Liberec link has run for several decades and its high-water mark so far is eighteen completed studies — nineteen documents, if the CZK 58,000 recalculation counts as one. Správa železnic promised last year to issue the two large design contracts, for Mladá Boleslav – Turnov and for Turnov – Liberec, and did not. They are now to be issued this year, but work on them will not begin until next year, for lack of money.

What changed this week is narrow and real: an objection was tested rather than absorbed, and the answer did not stop the project. What has not changed is that the fastest thing on this line remains the paperwork.