From Divoká Šárka as far as to Dědina newly by tram

22. 10. 2023

On Sunday, 22 October 2023, the DPP ceremoniously opened operations on the newly built tram line in the Divoká Šárka – Dědina section. Starting from Monday, 23 October 2023, tram lines no. 20 and 26 ride in to the Dědina loop.

The new line will provide tram service with two daily lines to the Na Dědině housing estate and to the new housing development at Drnovská Street. The residential area will thus get a means of transport with a greater capacity of both the system and the individual connections. Tram lines no. 20 and 26 go not only to the Nádraží Veleslavín metro station, but also directly, without transfer, to the centre of the Prague 6 district, and further to Malá Strana, Letná, Náměstí Republiky or the Anděl area, among others.

Rides of the measuring vehicle on the new tram line. **PHOTO**: DPP – Daniel Šabík

Description of the new line

The Divoká Šárka stops are located at the beginning of the new line, situated as boarding islands in the axis of Evropská street and structurally established as common with bus lines and future trolleybus lines. After this stop, the line turns left at a traffic light intersection and continues across a greenery belt to Vlastina street.

Here, up to U Silnice street, the line is built with the structure of a so-called fixed track with W-tram fastening, while the slab is stored in a special anti-vibration structure. In this section, the tram line has an asphalt cover and will also be drivable by cars and buses. Just before the intersection with U Silnice street, there are the Vlastina stops, established as sidewalk capes.

After the intersection with U Silnice street, there is a section of Vlastina street, where it was widened by 8.5 meters to the south at the expense of the military area. Thanks to this, it was possible to widen the original two-lane street into a directionally divided one, where each direction has one lane and a separate non-drivable tram track established using the classic method with rails on concrete sleepers. Thanks to the large axial distance between the tracks, the tree line is preserved, which was carefully protected during the track construction. However, before the completion of the actual construction of the tram line, the Technical Road Administration of the Capital City of Prague carried out its partial restoration due to the poor condition of some of the trees due to climate change. At the beginning of the housing development, near the Delta shopping centre, the Sídliště Na Dědině stops, common for trams and buses, are located. Behind it, the street continues in the same profile, while a central line of trees is newly planted between the tracks, which was not there before.

In this section, the tram track is set up as grassed as much as possible, with 49E1 rails, which contributes to the microclimate improvement and noise reduction. Only selected sections are paved according to the requirements of the ground infrastructure manager.

Before the end of Vlastina street, at the intersection with Ciolkovského street, there are the Ciolkovského stops, again with the possibility of being also used for public transport bus connections. North of these stops and the road itself, the Investment Department of the Prague City Hall was starting the construction of a parking garage at the time the tram line was put into operation.

The intersection of Vlastina street and Drnovská street is newly designed as light-controlled. Here, the tram exits into the area outside the ground road and continues in a north-west direction along Drnovská street to the final loop Dědina (called Dědinská in the design preparation, after the nearby street) with stops of the same name. From the final stop, access to both existing and newly constructed housing development is built. A new tree line is also being planted between the tram line and Drnovská street. In the loop itself, there are the technological objects of the traction substation for trams and trolleybuses, and social facilities for drivers. From the perspective of the track geometry, the loop is prepared for a future extension in the western direction to the planned Dlouhá Míle railway station on the planned line to the Václav Havel Airport Prague, which is ensured by the Railway Administration as an investor. The preparation and subsequent implementation of this extension of the tram line to the Dlouhá Míle train terminal was ordered to the Prague Public Transit Company by the Council of the Capital City of Prague in July 2023.

Basic Information about the new line

New line length: 2,059 metres + loop (length of inner rail 156 metres, length of outer rail 171 metres)
Number of catenary poles installed: 98 (of which 22 of concrete and 76 of steel)
Catenary line length: 5,510 metres
Used rails: NT1 (421.3 tonnes), 49E1 (161.4 tonnes)
Number of sleepers: 4,961
Landscaping: 176 trees and 8,452 bushes have been planted, 1,461 m2 of the rail top have been grassed
Investor and client: Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy, akciová společnost
Designer: METROPROJEKT Praha a.s.
Contractor: Subterra
Public contract estimated value: CZK 1,099,752,172 (without VAT)
Construction price according to the concluded contract: CZK 839,497,597 (without VAT)

New stops

Five pairs of stops with the following names and locations have been established on the Divoká Šárka – Dědina tram line:

Divoká Šárka – in Evropská street, between the intersections with Libocká street and Vlastina street,
Vlastina – before the intersection of Vlastina street and U Silnice street,
Sídliště na Dědině – near the shopping centre building and the Czech Post Office,
Ciolkovského – before the intersection with the street of the same name,
Dědina – terminal stop at the turning loop of the same name.