The Czech Ministry of the Environment has approved the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Prague railway tunnel, which is essential for the Prague – Airport – Kladno line project.

The Ministry assessed the impact of the planned tunnel construction, and the EIA also sets out the conditions to ensure that the necessary measures are implemented and the negative effects of the project are minimized.

Geotechnical and geological studies were carried out this year between the two stations directly on the route of the future tunnel. These will provide detailed information about the soil and will be an important support for the subsequent process of obtaining permits. Czech and foreign experts have previously selected the route of the tunnel under Střešovice as the best and safest option from several variants. It has also been approved by the Prague City Council and the Prague 6 District Council.

Moving the railway underground will free up the existing route corridor. In its place, a green corridor will be created, which will serve as a leisure area and become a new link between Dejvice and Divoká Šárka for pedestrians and cyclists.

The Prague railway tunnel will be built on the new line between Dejvice and Veleslavín stations, both located in the northwestern part of the city. The line will pass through a tunnel under the Střešovice neighborhood, also in the northwestern part of the Czech capital, in District 6.

The project involves replacing the current line between the Praha-Veleslavín and Praha-Dejvice stations, the latter to be built underground. Work on the construction of the new line and tunnel is expected to begin in 2028.

The new line is part of the Prague – Airport – Kladno project, which consists of 11 separate stages.

The Prague – Airport – Kladno project aims to rebuild the line from the center of Prague to Kladno (a town located 25 km northwest of Prague) and build a new section from Ruzyně station to Václav Havel Airport.

The reconstruction of the Negrelli viaduct has been completed, and the new Bubny station and Výstaviště station have been in operation since August. Trains are already running between Kladno-Ostrovec and Kladno stations, where a new station building is now under construction.

Before the next phase begins, the line from Ruzyně, Prague, to Kladno will be modernized, with the project already having final construction approval. Next year, the railway infrastructure administrator Správa železnic will launch a tender for work on the route from Výstaviště to the new underground station in Dejvice.

These investments are part of the strategy to modernize the Prague railway junction, which includes, among other things, the construction of two tunnels with a total length of 10.6 km and the creation of five new stations. According to estimates, the entire program for the development and reconfiguration of the capital’s railway network is worth EUR 7.3 billion.