One small step towards Prague Airport

This weekend, a section of the railway from the centre of Prague to the railway station opened. Like Dublin, Prague doesn't have a direct airport link by rail from the city centre. It's a bit of an embarrassment, but I can get there from central Prague using my transport pass in less than an hour with one change from tram to trolleybus.

The plans are grandiose - by 2030, the train from the centre of town to the airport will take 25 minutes, (add five minutes for me to walk to the station) and run every ten minutes. The line largely follows what was a single track line from Masaryk Station to the Central Bohemian town of Kladno to the west of Prague and the airport.

Let's look at what's just been delivered, my challenges with the delivery and what is ongoing.

What's just been delivered

The section which has just been delivered is this one. Basically, a kilometre and a half of railway, almost entirely on stilts, with a station at each end (Bubny and Výstaviště). The immediate transport benefits:

• Bubny replaces an old station, but is about 400m further south. The placement puts it next to Vltavska Metro 'C' station. This means that the line from Kladno now has connectivity to all three Prague Metro lines.
  
  
• Výstaviště (Exhibition Centre) is a destination in itself, but it is also a significant transport hub. The existence of the station allows for a number of destinations by tram to be added with a single change.

I've visited both Bubny and Výstaviště over the past couple of days since the opening. For a start, here's Bubny from the path to Vltavska, taken the day before trains turned up.

I've seen the station described as brutalist, but that's unfair - the picture below shows a very pleasant environment. The platforms at Bubny are about 200m long. There are four platforms: in essence, two for the route north to Kralupy nad Vltavou, two for the route west to Kladno and the airport.

But the trains aren't 200m long: here's a train heading north towards Kralupy.

Here's the departure board at rush hour at Bubny - you could say it's 'future-proofed'. 

Moving to Výstaviště, the 200m platforms seem to go on forever:

Here's a train in the platform - a quarter of the capacity being used maybe:

It's just gone rush hour, and there are three departures in the hour:

My challenges

Lots of stages not yet in construction

If you look at the project site here, five sections which are not yet in construction have to be completed to reach the airport from the city. Of these, only the airport station and the next tunnelled section from Výstaviště to Dejvice are expected to have planning permission by the end of the year. Of the other three, Dejvice to Veleslavín is particularly challenging due to the expensive land under which the railway administration want to tunnel, and the depth of the tunnel. All of the five sections have a construction date of '2027-2030'. So the chances of achieving the ambitious plans on time are small. 

No visual answer to the question "what's next?"

I would have made sure that the next section from Výstaviště to Dejvice had shovels in the ground now, even at the cost of not starting Masaryk Station until now (see 'What is ongoing'). But to do so admits the phased delivery of the project, and the risk of the project being perceived to be a white elephant. I would be looking at transport benefits for each stage of the project going forward, rather than stressing the undoubted community benefits (easier access between the two sides of the railway at Bubny, for instance). 

Express trains bypass Výstaviště 

Let's look first at that awful post-rush hour departure board at Výstaviště. What is doesn't tell you is that an hourly 'express' train to Kladno bypasses the stop. I'm going to be kind and assume this is either down to 'trial operations' or an acknowledgement that half of the trams at Výstaviště are currently not running due to one of the routes being completely rebuilt. But if you are going to make the statement 'the new Praha-Výstaviště stop has also significantly improved the transport services of the entire area', then you should make sure your few trains per hour all stop there.

Could you run four trains an hour to Dejvice now?

It would be a much faster route than the tram this way, but there are a few challenges. 

• You would need a passing loop somewhere on the single track section between Výstaviště and Dejvice. Behind Sparta would be the obvious place.
• Nimbys moaning about level crossings being down. Prague is a public transport city. Get used to it. In any case, once the link to Dejvice is in place underground, the level crossings will close for ever.
• People will say, undoubtedly, that Masaryk Station can't cope with extra capacity while it's being rebuilt. But Bubny can...  

It's a long way to change at the old Dejvice station for Metro 'A', and, potentially in time, for the new underground Dejvice station

So maybe create a temporary station by Metro 'A'? Here's the site from Google Maps:

The walk is about 400m, as you have to go via a level crossing to the east. Two platforms could be built to the east of the pin with access from the said level crossing. Immediate benefit for the cost of two temporary platforms and some wasteland.

Focus on reaching Velaslavín from the airport

Once a delay is inevitable, the railway administration should focus on bringing the train from the airport to Veloslavín. That way passengers don't need to take the trolleybus, as they do now - train to Veloslavín then Metro 'A' to the centre saves about 10 minutes over trolleybus to Veloslavín then Metro 'A'.

Manage the comms better

Much of the discussion on social media over the launch weekend was over headlines saying things like 'Prague opens first railway station in 40 years'. By the time I saw the railway administration's release on YouTube, it said 'major station'. A number of small stations have opened in the last few years, and the confusion may come from 'nádraží' meaning large station and 'železniční stanice' meaning stop - but that kind of language isn't going to translate far outside of Czech, and focuses debate in completely the wrong place.  

What is ongoing

I'll deregard the work ongoing (and close to complete) close to Kladno as it doesn't impact on the route to the airport. Mysteriously, the railway administration's page regarding Bubny and Výstaviště doesn't say that the section is complete, but that trial operation has started and that completion is in 2026. I can see work continuing to tidy up Bubny station and to complete a northern entrance there, but what 'completion' actually means is unclear. The comms could be better.

But I digress. The main piece of ongoing work is the rebuilding of the platforms at Masaryk station, and providing extra capacity. The page to read is at https://zeleznicenaletiste.cz/modernizace-a-dostavba-masarykova-nadrazi . The construction video shows no roof - the roof is now close to half complete, as partially seen in the photo below:

It's everything about exciting architecture from the outside in the way Bubny isn't. You don't see the platforms which haven't been demolished and rebuilt here, but the whole place was dilapidated before the rebuild started. Here's what the old part of the station looks like today - it's had very little love in the last 50 years:

While completion of the station in 2027 will look fantastic, the only immediate transport benefit will be the quicker walk to the main station due to the exit at the eastern end. Having something so visible of the intent to build to the airport in central Prague isn't a bad idea, but I would have delayed this section, and spent the money on getting to Veloslavín from the airport.

Conclusion

Am I pleased to see the section complete? You bet. Do I think the project is likely to go badly wrong soon? You bet.

From Prague to Vienna - week 11, Nedvědice to Tišnov

Evening all

I was on the same 'mid-morning' train which I caught last time. That's the 0603 not the 0445, which I tell myself means that I can have more sleep. I am always grateful for small mercies.

The map has been edited to include Week 11. 

Scores on the doors.

Starting point: Nedvědice
Time from home: 3h 57m
Number of trains caught: 3
Distances from: Prague: 176km Brno: 40.2km Vienna: 165km Bratislava: 176km

Ending point: Tišnov 
Time from home: 3h 6m
Number of trains caught: 1!
Distances from: Prague: 189km Brno: 24.9km Vienna: 150km Bratislava: 160km

Distance for the day: 24.2km
Total distance travelled: 312.1km
Equivalent distance in the UK: London-York (well London-Fulford, but near enough)

It always amazes me the number of people who are up at this time on a Sunday morning.

1000 - start of journey reached.

You will remember from last time that Pernštejn Castle will be our first destination, so here we go.

The first thing you notice is that the castle is closed! Looking at it, it's closed for the season. Back 29 March 2024.

This car park - empty because the castle was closed - had been planned to be the place where I took close up pictures of the castle. Plan foiled - no view of the castle as it's on a cliff. On we plod.

A Mother and Child painting on the cliff edge. As you do.

I'm attempting to convey just how high up this thing is.

That's as close as you get on a day when the castle is closed. I'll be back next year to visit when it is open. 

It's hard to describe. The castle gives the overall impression of having been created by AI.

Back to reality with a bump - I've been walking 85 minutes and I've travelled the sum total of 150m. Ho hum.

The same spectacular mountainside as last time. 

 

First village. That's a manhole cover, not a pothole.

Just a few logs for the winter.

Cow and calf.

A sign of approaching civilisation - a petrol station in the countryside. The last one was a number of trips ago.

Contrary to appearances, we are not in Croatia.

It's pretty, but not as pretty as its Croatian equivalent. 

We leave Doubravník, the railway and the river, and head uphill. For the first time since leaving Prague, we have no yellow signs to guide us. Route 1 has followed the river, and Euro Velo 4 has no signs in this area. Quite why we didn't follow route 1 and go a few extra kilometres is beyond me...

 

...but the view back to Doubravník is very pretty.

The colour contrast in the colour of the trees really is beautiful.

I partcularly love the larch trees, being the only local deciduous conifer (at least that I know of).

After our brief visit to Croatia, we visit Kazakhstan.

We leave the main road (at long last...), cross the river...

...and rejoin the railway.

A nice new path makes a pleasant change from the main road.

We still have the amazing steep hillside on the edge of the valley.

The rock from the hillside looks like it might be joining us on the path soon...

...or maybe ending up in the river, as it seems a few of the rocks have here.

As we approach Tišnov, we go under a real railway with overhead wires...

...into serious civilisation.

For the first time since Prague, the route is closed. You might be able to see that they are building houses in the distance. It means a 2km detour.

However, the detour did mean that I had this rather wonderful view in the late evening sunshine.

As well as this rather scary walk on the side of a main road.

Not for long though - we were soon back to this country path.

An example of South Moravia being different - a white sign (rather than a yellow one) for a cycle route.

Arriving in Tišnov, a bus on a Sunday. That's something which we haven't seen, rail replacement buses aside, for many weeks.

Journey's end, and a direct train home. I had planned to go another 6km, and I certainly had the feet, but I didn't have the time. My lack of understanding about Pernštejn and the diversion towards the end of the journey meant that I would be running out of light. 

The next instalment won't be until mid-January. In the next episode of Walking with Sergeant:

• we finally reach Brno
• we visit a villa named after a British politician
• we visit a castle named after an American film director
• we note the difference between the Prague and Brno astronomical clocks

Until then, good night all.

From Prague to Vienna - week 10, Bystřice nad Pernštejnem to Nedvědice

Evening all

Saturday was the last day before the clocks went back, so it was a 'now or never' situation if I wanted to reach Brno this year, as it was a necessary 30km between railway stations. The good news was that I didn't have to catch the first train, or, more to the point, catching the first train would have been pointless as I would have reached the starting point at the same time. The bad news was that I still had to rise and shine at 0515.

The map has been edited to include Week 10. 

For those of you who remember my Scunthorpe match reports, I always liked to start with some statistics (including balls out of the ground). I'll do something similar here.

Starting point: Bystřice nad Pernštejnem
Time from home: 3h 40m
Number of trains caught: 2
Distances from: Prague: 166km Brno: 50.4km Vienna: 172km Bratislava: 186km

Starting point: Nedvědice
Time from home: 3h 40m
Number of trains caught: 2 (and a rail replacement bus)
Distances from: Prague: 176km Brno: 40.2km Vienna: 165km Bratislava: 176km

Distance for the day: 30km
Total distance travelled: 287.9km

I've added Bratislava in as it is two days along the Danube from Vienna. 

SPOILER: If you don't like views of mountain scenery with autumn colours, stop reading now.

The usual pictures of a quiet early morming in Prague. 

The branch line train to Bystřice nad Pernštejnem.

Starting point reached, with a rail replacement bus outside the station due to repairs beyond Bystřice.

Fairy tale characters by the side of the path in Bystřice. They liven up an otherwise uninspiring town.

We join the route after about 2km, and say hello to route 1 again, which left us at Hlinsko. Hlinsko was two days past, and there are no railway stations in between - so the slightly longer diversion has been welcome. The destination of Nedvědice is signposted from the start, which is always good.

The sun threatened us with its presence.

Our dalliance with route 1 was brief. We continue straight on towards Vír. It's good to see a sign showing the distance to the destination so early in the day. And only 70km to Brno - except of course it isn't, as we're going the long way round. Again, but as you'll see, with reason.

The week's first tree. No autumn colours, so I thought it was a Holm Oak until I took the lower photo. Google tells me that it's a hazel, but I've never seen one that size before. I can see it from the leaves, though.

Something gnarled. I think that it's a willow. (EDIT 2 Nov 2023: It is actually a wych elm. I don't remember ever having seen a mature elm tree before.)

A village in the distance. But, much as I like going through the first village of the day, the road ahead is going in another direction.

Conifers are often more beautiful when dead.

Nothing could have prepared me for the beauty of the scenery beyond the turn of the road towards the village. We dropped with initially a valley being to our right...

...round a hairpin bend to a sheer rock face...

...and we start to see beech as the dominant mature species, as often happens in the mountains.

Eventually, we reach Vír, the first village - almost two hours after leaving Bystřice - ...

...with its cobbled street.

A village at the bottom of a mountain pass is not where I would have expected to find a Japanese Maple, but every day is a school day. 

I'm here just early enough to see the Sumach before it loses its leaves.

 

 

Another hillside view with autumn colours.

Half way, crossing the Svratka river.

A pretty cottage.

A swan on the river. 

An angler in the river.

The road, somehow, keeps going downhill...

...with yet more autumn colours.

Lower in the valley, we see an oak sapling.

Wood for the winter. The hills are alive with the sounds of chainsaws.

Japanese maples are often grown in sheltered conditions. Using conifers as shade and a windbreak is novel.

Mandatory picture of a fern.

A bellflower (campanula) is flowering late in the season.

A rose and a sweet pea. In late October.

Hilda Ogden style flying ducks for outside. Or not.

The rocks remain.

For the first time since Bystřice, we leave the road.

Another two examples of the visual impact of dead conifers.

Two kilometres to go.

We reach South Moravia (Jinomoravský Kraj). We are now in Brno Outer District.

The Virginia Creeper is pretty on the outside of the house.

We reach the station for the trip home, with an hour and a half to spare.

The contrast between the industrial and the beautiful.

First destination next time - Pernštejn Castle.

Good night all.