Trains will start running on the Prague New Connection in three weeks

Prague - Following the construction of the New Connection, which will enhance the connectivity of Prague's train stations, the first trains will run on the first day of school. The trains will initially operate on a trial basis on the railway, with the official operation expected to commence in December. People will gradually see an expansion of urban and suburban S lines, said Petr Šťáhlavský, spokesman for Czech Railways, to ČTK today.
    Four kilometers of the New Connection will link Hlavní and Masarykovo stations on one side and Libeň, Vysočany, and Holešovice on the other. This is the largest railway construction project in Prague in the last 25 years. The project costs nine billion crowns and is funded by the State Transport Infrastructure Fund (SFDI).
    According to Šťáhlavský, the New Connection will enable an increase in the number of suburban trains as well as the introduction of services that will operate across Prague. "To implement this model, it is necessary to complete the modernization and capacity expansion of other stations and lines in the Prague hub, which is being prepared or is already underway," Šťáhlavský stated. Such modifications include the reconstruction of the tracks in Libeň, repairing the Vysočany station, and the line from Libeň to Běchovice to Úvaly. As a result, the lines will be expanded gradually.
    Starting in December, travel will improve for people using trains on the Strančice - Hlavní nádraží route. During peak hours, trains will run on average every fifteen minutes, while currently, people wait half an hour. According to Šťáhlavský, discussions are also underway to terminate trains in Vysočany; for example, a trip from Vršovice to Vysočany would then take 20 minutes.
    Passengers traveling from Lysá nad Labem to Prague's Masarykovo station will also experience faster journeys, as the travel time from Vysočany to "Masaryčka" will be reduced by seven minutes; for instance, the journey from Čelákovice will take 27 minutes to reach the final stop.
    The trial operation of the trains on the line is planned from September 1 to 9, said Anna Kodysová from the Railway Infrastructure Administration (SŽDC) to ČTK. Workers are currently completing work on the railway superstructure, traction power supply, safety and signaling equipment, and noise reduction measures.
    If the SŽDC receives the promised funds, people will be able to travel on the New Connection starting in December, nearly two years earlier than the originally planned completion date. "The complete project will be finished in 2009, when final works, including terrain and landscaping of the surroundings, will take place," Kodysová stated.
    The project also included a road viaduct on Pod Plynojemem street, which has been in operation since December 2005, and the expansion of Husitská street, which will be completed by the end of August.
    Currently, about six hundred urban and suburban trains run daily in Prague and its surrounding areas. The metropolis currently has over 200 kilometers of railway lines, while the metro and tram tracks are approximately 180 kilometers long. The first urban train set out on its journey four years ago on the route from Libeň to Holešovice to Roztoky.
    On suburban lines, old pantographs are mostly in use, some of which have been in service for over 40 years. The railways are gradually replacing them with new City Elephant units, of which there will ultimately be about fifty.