Metro D line would require changes to the law

The Prague Public Transit Co. (DPP) wants to change the law on rail transportation to allow for driverless trains on the planned Metro D line. The DPP has prepared the changes to the law but is waiting for the best opportunity to present them to Parliament. The changes should be implemented within the next two years. The line will improve connections between the city center and neighborhoods in the south.

The idea for driverless trains was first suggested in 2009 and a plan including them was approved in July 2015.

Construction of the Metro D line will be in four phases, starting with a geological survey in September 2018. A tender for a company to conduct geological exploration will be announced in November 2017.

The second phase will be construction of the first section between Pankrác and Nové Dvory. It could begin in 2019 and be finished by 2023. Prague Deputy Mayor Petr Dolínek (ČSSD) announced the dates previously and said the goal was to have the first section of the metro in service in 2023.

The third stage, which would take place at the same time as the second, would be to create a tunnel from the neighborhood of Pisnice in the south of the city toward the city center. The fourth stage would be the creation of a depot in Pisnice.

Construction costs for the Metro D line are estimated at Kč 50 billion. The city plans to ask the European Union for Kč 7 billion to 9 billion. The extension of the Metro A line from Dejvická to Nemocnice Motol, completed in 2015, cost some Kč 20 billion.

The Metro D line when finished would have 10 stations and stretch 10.5 kilometers from Náměstí Míru to Depo Písnice.

The line already faces controversy, as some people claim the planned stations that were designed in 2009 are already outdated. Some 2,700 people signed a petition to have them redesigned, but the city claims that only minor cosmetic changes can be made since zoning permission has already been granted, and extensive changed would mean further delays as the process would have to start over.

Another issue facing the Metro D line is that some of the needed property for the stations has not yet been acquired. The city has proposes opening the line with some stations unbuilt.

The idea for a metro line to the south is not new. Various proposals to build a metro into the southern part of the city came in the 1960s and '70s, but have constantly been delayed. Interest in the project was renewed after the floods of 2002.

The Prague metro began operation in 1974 and now has three lines with 61 stations. It has a transit network 65.2 kilometers long.