Czech Republic to begin construction of high-speed railway line in 2025

Construction of the first section of the Czech Republic's long-awaited high-speed railway line is slated to begin next year. Transport Minister Martin Kupka announced the news at a conference organized by the Association of Construction Entrepreneurs on Friday.

The first section of the high-speed line to be constructed will run from Brno to Přerov. Following this, work on the section between Brno and Břeclav will begin in 2026, and the Moravská brána section will start by 2028 at the latest. Work on sections connecting to Prague is expected to begin around 2030.

“Next year we will start the construction of the first high-speed railway in Moravia,” said Kupka, who added that special efforts have been taken to ensure the new line begins construction on time.

A new system has been introduced where the remuneration of Railway Administration officials is tied to the speed with which they process all necessary requests and actions to start the construction of high-speed lines. Kupka’s announcement of the start date came as a surprise, as in March he had indicated that construction would begin in 2026.

The new high-speed railway tracks are designed for train speeds of up to 320 km/h. They will eventually connect Prague to Dresden and Brno, and from Brno to Vienna and Ostrava, in just a fraction of the current railway times.

Future plans, though still theoretical, include lines from Prague to Wrocław and from Pilsen to Munich, as well as a branch from the main Dresden route to Most. The total cost of constructing the basic high-speed railway infrastructure in the Czech Republic is estimated at CZK 800 billion.

High-speed railway in Prague

Long-term plans for the high-speed line are primarily aimed at the Czech capital. If everything proceeds as planned, the construction of the Prague section of the line will start in 2030. Kupka emphasized that regional construction should "put pressure" on Prague to accelerate the preparations for connecting the tracks to the metropolis.

In Prague, the Railway Administration will also build a central dispatching workplace for remote control of traffic on high-speed lines in the Czech Republic, at an estimated cost of CZK 39.9 million. This new building will be constructed near the existing central dispatch center in Prague's Balabenka area.

Suburban trains in Prague are already overcrowded, and the construction of high-speed lines should help to alleviate this. New underground lines called New Connection II or metro S, which could begin construction after 2030, are also intended to serve this purpose.

“The year 2030 can be the milestone when the people of Prague will see construction activity on the line that will bring high-speed trains to Prague,” Kupka stated. The minister added that the capital's current governing coalition supports the construction of the high-speed railway, and the city is already approving the necessary changes.