CZECH REPUBLIC: Praha transport authority DPP has selected Eurovia CS for a KC1·24bn contract to bring trams back to Václavského Náměstí.
The new tram tracks will run down the elongated square to connect existing lines at the Muzeum metro station and Václavské Náměstí stops.
Construction is scheduled to start in spring 2024 and take three years. Bids were received from six consortia comprising 15 companies from four countries, and the tenders were evaluated on the basis of cost (80%) and completion date (20%).
The project includes a wider redevelopment of the square including traffic calming and pedestrianisation, drainage works and landscaping. The roof of the Muzeum metro station will be reinforced to support the tram tracks.
‘We urgently need a tram connection here, because the capacity of the tram network in the centre is already at its maximum’, said Deputy Mayor for Transport Zdeněk Hřib on November 3.
He said the line would relieve road congestion which can spread up to Anděl on the other side of the River Vltava. ‘In addition, trams belong to the square historically’, he said. ‘They have been operating here since 1884, and unfortunately were removed in 1980 when it was wrongly thought that the metro would fully replace trams.’
