Passengers at the bus station in Veleslavín may feel that their commute to Václav Havel Airport by bus will end soon. This is exactly the expression of time used by the Railway Administration (SŽ) in its new large-scale advertisement, which promises an early journey to the airport by train. The banner cost less than 60,000 CZK.
According to Nely Friebová, a spokeswoman for the Railway Administration, the state organization expects to start construction between Veleslavín and Ruzyně Airport in 2024 and the runway in 2028. The question, therefore, arises as to whether 2028 meets the meaning of the term “soon”.
“We consider the slogan on the banner appropriate given how accelerated preparations have accelerated in the last two years. The project of connecting Prague with the airport and Kladno has been mentioned for more than 30 years and has never been in such a phase of preparation and development as at present,” said Friebová.
According to her, two zoning decisions are currently issued, and the third is running. “For two constructions, we are working on the documentation for the building permit; for the third construction, we will start working on the documentation in a few days. We expect to start two constructions in 2021,” added a spokeswoman for SŽ.
Where Will the Tunnel Lead?
However, the Railway Administration is still unclear about where the key section between Dejvice and Veleslavín tunnel under Střešovice will lead. Last week, together with the main designer of the construction, the company Metroprojekt, they started to drill two additional engineering geological wells. These will be 90 and 58 meters deep, and pressiometric and logging measurements will occur.
The Railway Administration paid for a large banner at the Veleslavín railway station, but advertising space was provided by Prague free of charge. In the meantime, the Capital City Transport Company (DPP) is preparing a project that envisages passengers taking large-capacity trolleybuses to Václav Havel Airport.