Prague will join the call to build a high-speed line to Liberec

The fastest connection of Prague and Liberec to the railways has been talked about for more than a quarter of a century. Still talking.

Prague City Hall will join the initiative, which plans to invite the Czech state to build a high-speed railway linking Prague with Mlada Boleslav, Liberec and Germany’s Görlitz. Prague City Council members today approved a draft joint memorandum between regions and local governments in the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland. Representatives are still voting on that. The memorandum proposes to cooperate in setting up the line and in trying to include it in the main trans-European transport network TEN-T.

Efforts to promote the construction of a high-speed railway, which would duplicate the D10 motorway, originated mainly from the initiative of the Liberec region, Saxony and the Polish province of Lower Silesia. In their opinion, it is necessary to create a railway between Prague and Liberec and the border between Germany and Poland, which will be faster than traveling by car on the highway.

The capital’s leadership has now joined the initiative. According to a document approved today by Prague City Council members, the Railways Administration (SŽ) is now preparing to build a modern line in the Prague-Mlada Boleslav division using existing lines supplemented by two new junctions, which will shorten the journey to Mlada Boleslav by approximately 20 minutes to approximately 47 minutes. “According to SŽ’s plans, this connection should become a launching pad for improving communications with the Liberec region, ” It is written in the document.

According to the authors of the memo, this is not an insufficient solution and the state should invest in building a new, direct express line to Liberec. “The cities of Brands nad Labem, Benátky nad Jizerou and Mnichovo Hradiště can also be successfully linked to this line, thus ensuring rapid regional transportation from the whole region to Prague,” He stands in the document.

The authors of the memorandum want to join the European TEN-T network

In particular, the signatories are seeking to include the line in the European TEN-T network, as it is likely that only projects under it will be able to receive support from European structural funds in the future. “Therefore, it will be necessary for the Czech Ministry of Transport to request the relevant European authorities to review the TEN-T network in the Czech Republic and in the surrounding region. “ He stands in the document.

The memorandum was or is to be supported on the Czech side by the regions of Liberec and Central Bohemia, Liberec, Jablonec nad Nisou and Mladá Boleslav, the German state of Saxony, the region of Görlitz, the cities of Görlitz, Zittau, ZVON Transport, the Polish Provincial Assembly of Lower Silesia and the cities of Gelenia Gora Zgorzelik. The joint application must be sent to the Czech Ministry of Transport after it has been signed by all the signatories.

According to a recent statement by its spokeswoman Radka Pistoriusová, SŽ is currently preparing four high-speed lines, from Prague via Brno to Ostrava, from Brno to kvice, as well as the Prague – Usti nad Labem – Dresden line with the Bříza – Most line and Prague – Hradec Králové. Vratislav branch. Trains run at speeds of up to 320 kilometers per hour. In May 2017, the government agreed to set up a high-speed connection system, the main component of which is high-speed lines. Recently Pilsen has criticized the road, as high-speed rail does not operate accordingly. For current government plans.

There has been talk of a faster rail connection between Prague and Liberec in decades, but there has been no change. So far, the last hope for a faster travel is the planned modifications of the Prague-Mlada Boleslav link in the form of the Všejanská and Bezděčínská links.

ČTK