Europe’s rail travel renaissance means most of the spotlight is shed on new routes and services – but new train stations are opening, too, and the latest of these has just begun operations.
Prague has just opened a brand-new major train station – its first in the last 40 years. Officially the Praha-Bubny railway station, operations kicked off on Friday August 1, and it features an enclosed arrival hall, elevated platforms with glass shelters and even planted trees (which are supported by a swish automated irrigation system).
The new station has had 85 percent of its costs covered by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) – around CZK 2.5 billion. The first services were to Výstaviště, with more added to the towns of Kladno and Kralupy nad Vltavou on Monday August 4.
By 2030, the aim is to have a city-centre link with Václav Havel Airport, and Expats CZ reports that the Czech Railway Infrastructure Administration have confirmed that the permit for this has been secured.
As part of the project is a new Prague-Výstaviště stop, just a little west of Bubny, which will facilitate new pedestrian links between Letná and Stromovka parks. But the historic parts of this area in Prague have not been forgotten about.
An estimated 50,000 Czech Jews were deported from the original Bubny station during the Holocaust, so the original station building will be transformed into the Bubny Memorial and Dialogue centre to commemorate them. This should hopefully be open by 2027.
It’s not only an exciting development for Prague, but also for the surrounding regions, which will see vastly improved connectivity.
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