Czech Environment Ministry Approves €7.3B Prague Rail Tunnel EIA

Prague Rail Tunnel EIA Approved, Advancing €7.3B Modernization Program

In the Czech Republic, the Ministry of the Environment has approved the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for a new railway tunnel in Prague, a key component of the EUR 7.3 billion Prague railway junction modernization program. The comprehensive plan includes the construction of five new stations and two tunnels with a combined length of 10.6 km. This approval advances the 11-stage Prague – Airport – Kladno line project, a strategic initiative to upgrade regional and airport connectivity.

Project Scope and Technical Details

The approved tunnel will be constructed on the new line alignment between the Praha-Dejvice and Praha-Veleslavín stations in northwestern Prague. The route will pass beneath the Střešovice neighborhood in District 6. The project mandates replacing the existing surface-level line, with the Praha-Dejvice station being rebuilt entirely underground. The approval from the Ministry of the Environment follows detailed geotechnical and geological studies conducted in 2024 to provide soil data necessary for final permitting.

The selected tunnel alignment was determined by a panel of Czech and foreign experts as the optimal route from several alternatives and has received formal approval from both the Prague City Council and the Prague 6 District Council. The EIA sets binding conditions for the construction phase to mitigate environmental and community disruption. Decommissioning the current surface-level railway corridor will free the land for a new green corridor, creating a leisure and transit area for pedestrians and cyclists between Dejvice and Divoká Šárka.

Integration with Broader Network Strategy

The tunnel is an integral part of the Prague – Airport – Kladno project, which is designed to modernize the railway line from central Prague to the city of Kladno, located 25 km to the northwest, and to establish a direct rail link to Václav Havel Airport via a new branch from Ruzyně station. This project directly addresses long-standing infrastructure deficits by creating a reliable, high-capacity public transport connection to the country’s primary international airport and a key satellite city, a common objective in national transport strategies for major European capitals.

The overall program is being executed in 11 distinct stages. Several phases are already complete, including the reconstruction of the historic Negrelli viaduct. New stations at Bubny and Výstaviště have been operational since August 2024. On the Kladno section of the line, trains are already using the modernized track between Kladno-Ostrovec and Kladno, where a new station building is currently under construction.

Timeline and Procurement

With the EIA secured, work on the new line and tunnel between Dejvice and Veleslavín is scheduled to commence in 2028. Prior to this, the modernization of the line section from Ruzyně to Kladno will proceed, as this segment has already obtained its final construction approval. The national railway infrastructure administrator, Správa železnic, will launch a tender in 2025 for the construction works on the section from Výstaviště to the new underground station at Dejvice, representing the next major procurement phase of the project.