Prague Metro

Prague Metro
Prag Metro Logo.svg
Info
Locale Prague
Transit type Rapid transit (subway)
Number of lines 3 (plus 1 in planning)
Number of stations 57
Daily ridership 1,472,000 (2007)
Operation
Began operation 9 May 1974
Operator(s) Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy
(Prague Public Transit company)
Technical
System length 59,4 km
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
(standard gauge)

The Prague Metro is a subway, underground public transportation network in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the fastest means of transportation around the city and serves about one and a half million passengers a day, which makes it the seventh busiest metro system in Europe.

Contents

Basic information

The Prague Metro comprises three lines, each of which is represented by its own colour on the maps and signs: Line A (green), Line B (yellow) and Line C (red). There are 57 stations in total (three of which are transfer stations) connected by nearly 60 kilometres of mostly underground railways. The metro service operates between 4-5 am till midnight every day, with about two- to three-minute intervals between trains during rush hours. Over 620 million passengers use the Prague Metro every year.

The metro is run by the Prague Public Transit Company Co. Inc. (in Czech officially Dopravní podnik hlavního města Prahy a.s.) which manages all means of public transport around the city (the metro, tramways, buses, the funicular to Petřín Hill and the chairlift inside Prague Zoo). Since 1993, this system has been connected to commuter trains and buses and also to "park-and-ride" parking lots. Together they form a public transportation network reaching further from the city called Prague Integrated Transport (Pražská integrovaná doprava—PID). Whilst the large system is zonally priced, the metro is fully inside the central zone.

Many Prague Metro stations are quite large, with several entrances spaced relatively far apart. This can often lead to confusion for tourists, especially at the central hubs such as Můstek or Muzeum: it is not enough to merely get off at the right station; one must also choose the right way out to the surface, otherwise one can easily find oneself five or ten minutes' walking distance from the required destination. However, in general the stations are well signposted even for those unfamiliar with local language.

Layout and stations

Náměstí Republiky station.
Metro bridge between Lužiny and Hůrka stations.

The Prague Metro system is laid-out as a triangle, with all three lines meeting in the center of the city at three interchange stations. Each interchange station has two halls, one hall for each line. The depth of the stations (and the connecting lines) varies considerably. The deepest station is Náměstí Míru, located 52 meters under the ground. Parts of the tracks in the city center were mostly bored using the tunneling shield. Outer parts were dug by the cut-and-cover method and the stations are only a few meters under the surface. The B line partly runs in a glassed-in tunnel above the ground.

Most stations have a single platform in the center of the station hall (tunnel) serving both directions. The sub-surface stations have a straight ceiling sometimes supported by columns. The deep-level stations are larger tunnels with the track tunnels on each side. The walls of many stations are decorated using colored aluminium panels, each station having its own color.

# Name Opened Length Stations
A Line A (Linka A) 1978 11.0 km 13
B Line B (Linka B) 1985 25.6 km 24
C Line C (Linka C) 1974 22.7 km 20
Total: 59.3 km 57 (transfer stations counted as two; see above)

Tickets

The Prague Metro is an open ticket system. Passengers must buy and validate a ticket before entering the metro platform. There are uniformed ticket inspectors who have the right to check the validity of the ticket at any time within the compulsory ticket area.

The tickets are the same for all means of transport in Prague (excluding commuter trains for single tickets). The basic single ticket (the transfer variant) costs 26 CZK (as of 1 January 2008) and allows a 75-minute ride (90 minutes during evenings, weekends and state holidays). The non-transferable ticket (costing 18 CZK) is valid for a distance of five metro stations (not including the station of validation) allowing changes between lines A, B and C, but no longer than 30 minutes in total. Since December 2007 SMS purchase for the basic single transfer ticket is possible.

Short-term tourist passes are available for periods of 24 hours (100 CZK), 3 days (330 CZK) and 5 days (500 CZK).

In addition, longer-term season tickets can be bought (photo ID required) for periods of one month (550 CZK), three months (1480 CZK) or the annual pass (4750 CZK).

History

Ladislav Rott's proposal to the Prague City Council.

Although the Prague Metro system is relatively new, ideas to build some kind of underground transport in the city reach far into its history. The first proposal to build a sub-surface railway was made by Ladislav Rott in 1898. He encouraged the city council to take the advantage of the fact that parts of the central city were already being dug up for sewer work. Rott wanted them to start digging tunnels for the railway at the same time. However, the plan was denied by the city authorities. Another proposal in 1926, by Bohumil Belada and Vladimír List, was the first to use the term "Metro", and though it was not accepted either, it served as an impulse for moving towards a real solution of the rapidly developing transport in Prague. In the 1930s and 1940s, intensive projection and planning works were being held, taking into account two possible solutions: an underground tramway (regular rolling stock going under ground in the city center, nowadays described as a "pre-metro") and a "true" metro having its own independent system of railways. After World War II, all work was stopped due to the poor economic situation of the country, although the three lines, A, B and C, had been almost fully designed.

In the early 1960s the concept of the sub-surface tramway was finally accepted and on 9 August 1967 the actual building of the first station (Hlavní nádraží) started. However, at the same year, a substantial change in the concept came, as the government, under the influence of Soviet advisers, decided to build a "true" metro system instead of an underground tramway. Thus, during the first years, the construction continued while the whole project was conceptually transformed. The regular service of the first section of line C began operating on 9 May 1974 between Sokolovská (now Florenc) and Kačerov stations. Building continued quite rapidly after that. In 1978 the first section of line A was opened and, finally, line B opened in 1985, thus forming the triangle with three crossing points. Since then, the tracks have been extended further from the center. Line B was extended from Nové Butovice to Zličín in 1994 and from Českomoravská to Černý Most in 1998. The Kolbenova and Hloubětín stations were opened in 2001.

On 22 February 1990, 11 stations with names reflecting communist ideology were changed to be politically neutral. Leninova station, which contained a giant bust of Lenin before the Velvet Revolution, was renamed Dejvická after a nearby street and surrounding neighbourhood.

In the meantime, the old Russian trains are slowly wearing out and are being refurbished or replaced. The refurbished trains are projected to serve for another 15 years. The renewal of the rolling stock should be completed by 2007.

August 2002, flooded stations and lines

In August 2002, the metro suffered disastrous flooding that struck parts of Bohemia and other areas in Central Europe (see 2002 European flood). 19 stations were flooded, causing a partial collapse of the transport system in Prague; the damage to the metro has been estimated at approximately 7 billion CZK (over US$200 million). The affected sections of the metro stayed out of service for several months; the last station (Křižíkova, located in the most-damaged area - Karlín) reopened in March 2003. Small gold plates have been placed at some stations to show the highest water level of the flood.

Kobylisy station, line C (2004).

A northern extension of line C was opened on 26 June 2004, with two more stations, Kobylisy and Ládví. Notable is the way that new tunnels were built under the Vltava river. A unique "ejecting-tunnels" technology was chosen for this. First, a trench was excavated in the riverbed and the concrete tunnels constructed in dry docks on the riverbank. Then the docks were flooded, and the floating tunnels were moved as a rigid complex to their final position, sunk, anchored and covered.[1]

Line A was recently extended farther to the east. On 26 May 2006, a new terminus, Depo Hostivař, opened. The station was constructed within the buildings of an existing railway depot. The extension is the first segment of the system that has been built above ground and not through a tunnel.

Line C has been recently extended further to the northeast to connect the city center to the large housing blocks in Prosek. Three stations (Střížkov, Prosek and Letňany) opened on 8 May 2008.

Rolling stock

81-71M train in depot

Service is provided entirely with five-car units. There are two kinds of units currently in operation on the Prague Metro:

Previously in service:

Features

"Můstek" means "little bridge" and refers to the area around the Můstek station. The origin of the area's name was not known until remains of a medieval bridge were discovered during construction of the station. The remains were incorporated into the station and can be seen near the northwestern exit of the station.

The escalator at Náměstí Míru station in Vinohrady is about 100 metres long and, according to its builder, is the longest escalator in Europe.[2] It takes about two and a half minutes to ascend or descend the escalator if you stand still.

Escalator in Náměstí Míru.

Between I. P. Pavlova and Vyšehrad stations, Line C runs inside the box structure of the Nusle Bridge over a steep valley.

Anděl station was known as Moskevská (Moscow Station) until 1990. It opened on the same day in 1985 as the Prazhskaya (Prague) station on the Moscow Metro. It contains several pieces of propaganda art promoting Soviet-Czechoslovak friendship. Anděl station, like the Smíchov train station, contains some of the best-preserved examples of Communist-era propaganda art remaining in Prague.

During the communist period rumors circulated that large "survival chambers" were being built for high officials of the government in the case of a nuclear attack. After the fall of communism such areas were shown indeed to exist, but not on the scale envisioned nor fitted out in luxury.

The future

There are further plans to build a completely new line, the D line (or blue line). Line D would connect the city centre to the southern parts of the city and according to the newest plans, the line would go from Náměstí Republiky (interchange with the B line) through Hlavní nádraží (the main train station, interchange with the C line) and the Nusle quarter down to the suburban neighbourhoods of Krč, Libuš and Písnice (see the unofficial fan map with older proposals) in the south. If the project goes well, the first sections of the line will commence operation around 2015.

The first phase of a CZK18.7 billion extension on the west end of the A line is currently under construction, from Dejvická station to Motol, which is forecast to open to the public in 2014. The second phase of this extension will see the line reach Ruzyně International Airport and is set to open by 2021.[3][4] Before this, a railway connection to the airport will be opened.

An E line has also been proposed, but not much is known about it yet and no official plans were released.[5]

Culture

The Prague Metro is used very much by locals, and the quote given by the PA system when the doors are closing, "Ukončete, prosím, výstup a nástup, dveře se zavírají" (Please finish boarding and exiting, the doors are closing) has become a symbol for Prague, and is possibly the first clear Czech phrase many travelers hear.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Metrostav | Projects
  2. ↑ ThyssenKrupp Elevator: Prague
  3. ↑ http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/10/work-starts-on-praha-metro-extension.html
  4. ↑ http://www.praha.eu/jnp/en/transport/public_transportation/the_extension_of_the_line_a_has_been.html
  5. ↑ Line E is shown on a map at the bottom of http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=307889

External links

← direction Dejvická Prague Metro – line A direction Depo Hostivař →
  Metro stops on this line  
Dejvická Handicapped/disabled access – Hradčanská – Malostranská – Staroměstská – Můstek B – Muzeum C Handicapped/disabled access – Náměstí Míru – Jiřího z Poděbrad – Flora – Želivského – Strašnická Handicapped/disabled access – Skalka Handicapped/disabled access - Depo Hostivař Handicapped/disabled access
← direction Zličín Prague Metro – line B direction Černý Most →
  Metro stops on this line  
Zličín Handicapped/disabled access – Stodůlky Handicapped/disabled access – Luka Handicapped/disabled access – Lužiny Handicapped/disabled access – Hůrka Handicapped/disabled access – Nové Butovice Handicapped/disabled access – Jinonice – Radlická – Smíchovské nádraží Handicapped/disabled access – Anděl – Karlovo náměstí – Národní třída – Můstek A – Náměstí Republiky – Florenc Handicapped/disabled accessC – Křižíkova – Invalidovna – Palmovka – Českomoravská – Vysočanská Handicapped/disabled access – Kolbenova Handicapped/disabled access – Hloubětín Handicapped/disabled access – Rajská zahrada Handicapped/disabled access – Černý Most Handicapped/disabled access
← direction Letňany Prague Metro – line C direction Háje →
  Metro stops on this line  
Letňany Handicapped/disabled access - Prosek Handicapped/disabled access - Střížkov Handicapped/disabled access - Ládví Handicapped/disabled access – Kobylisy Handicapped/disabled access – Nádraží Holešovice Handicapped/disabled access – Vltavská Handicapped/disabled access – Florenc B Handicapped/disabled access – Hlavní nádraží Handicapped/disabled access – Muzeum A Handicapped/disabled access – I. P. Pavlova – Vyšehrad Handicapped/disabled access – Pražského povstání – Pankrác Handicapped/disabled access – Budějovická Handicapped/disabled access – Kačerov – Roztyly Handicapped/disabled access – Chodov Handicapped/disabled access – Opatov Handicapped/disabled access – Háje Handicapped/disabled access