The Prague City Council has approved the automation of Prague Metro Line C
22. 01. 2024
Prague, 22 January 2024 – The Prague City Council (PCC) at its meeting today has agreed to prepare the implementation of a transport system jointly for both lines C and D in the form of an automated driverless metro comprising a new fleet. The proposal will also be presented at the February meeting of the Prague City Assembly (PCA), who will vote on it. The combination of these two projects means that the same automated metro should run in Prague not only on line D currently under construction, but also on the existing line C.
Thanks to the automation of line C and the combination of this project with the planned purchase of trains and the transport system for line D, it will be possible above all to shorten the intervals and increase the transport capacity on the busiest line C by up to 20%, to significantly reduce annual operating costs, reaching higher hundreds of millions of crowns, and in the end as a result also to modernise the fleet of trains 81-71M in time, which currently run on lines A and B. The Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) will, following the discussion of the proposal at the PCA, announce a public contract in the form of a competitive dialogue for the supply of 69 fully automated driverless trains, platform screen doors, a transport system together with the equipment of the depot and control room for both metro lines, as well as providing maintenance for the entire duration of the expected 35-year basic service life of the new trains, and the supply of certain parts of the transport system.
Synergies from combining the automation of line C and the purchase of a transport system for line D
Synergies arising from a joint Prague-DPP purchase of a transport system for line D with line C automation are a result of several rounds of preliminary market consultations with the world's leading manufacturers of fully automated metro trains carried out by DPP between 2020-2021 and Deloitte's last year analysis as part of the 2050 DPP Business Plan update. One of them would be saving investment costs for the purchase of 16 trains for line D in the amount of 950 million crowns. Additional 830 million crowns would be saved in service costs for the maintenance of these 16 trains throughout their 35-year basic service life in the form of Full Service. Full automation of line C would reduce existing operating costs by approximately 770 million crowns per year. On the other hand, the commissioning of metro D between Pankrác and Nové Dvory will mean an increase in the operating costs of the metro by approximately 480 million crowns per year.
Shortening the peak interval on line C to the level of 90 seconds is possible only by modernising the transport infrastructure and introducing the operation of fully automated driverless trains using the most modern railway signalling equipment, the CBTC, known as the moving block. This means that the fully automated system verifies, at any moment, the exact position of all trains in operation and, in particular, their smallest permissible distance, which makes it possible to achieve a shorter peak interval compared to the existing technology of what is known as the fixed block of track circuits, where a train is only allowed into a given circuit when the previous train has left it.
In order to preserve the safety and reliability of the Prague metro operation even after 2040, it is necessary to address the need to renew the fleet of trains of type 81-71M serving lines A and B, which are currently in the last phase of their service life cycle, and it is no longer possible to extend their lifespan without enormous investments. In addition, in 2040, even if the option is exercised, the existing contract to ensure their maintenance in the form of Full Service ends.
The total expected value of the combined public contract for the automation of line C and the transport system of line D is approximately 86 billion crowns. Of this, approximately 35.9 billion crowns are investment costs for both lines for the purchase of fully automated trains (53 trains for line C and 16 trains for line D), signalling equipment, safety platform screens and equipment for the depot and control room, while the budget for the construction of metro D already counts with 10.9 billion crowns. The expected amount of 50.1 billion crowns will be the operating costs to ensure the maintenance of all 69 trains in the form of Full Service for the entire period of their basic 35-year service life as well as the maintenance of the transport system and safety platform screens.
Contacts for more information:
E-mail: tiskoveoddeleni@dpp.cz