The Prague Transport Company (DPP) has initiated a tender to procure automated train sets for the existing Metro C line and the future D line currently under construction. This ambitious project is valued at a whopping 85.98 billion crowns without VAT.
DPP anticipates signing a contract with the successful supplier in October next year. The actual delivery of the trains is expected to take place after 2029. The tender pertains to fully automated metro operations without operational staff onboard the train. In total, it includes 69 train sets (53 sets for line C + 16 sets for line D), security devices utilizing CBTC technology, safety walls on station platforms, a new train dispatcher for both lines and appropriate modernization of Kačerov depot and equipment of Písnice depot.
As part of the contract, the supplier must also commit to a 35-year maintenance of the new trains. Maintenance is ten years shorter for platform walls and the transport system. According to DPP estimates, maintenance will constitute approximately two-thirds of the contract value, and funds for it will be paid gradually.
Automation of the metro is intended to reduce intervals on the new D line to a minimum and simultaneously increase the capacity of the busiest C line by up to 20 percent. Deputy Mayor of Prague for Transport and Chairman of the DPP Supervisory Board, Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates), elaborated on this.
“By combining the projects of purchasing a transport system for the D line and automating the C line, we will not only get more advantageous prices but also reduce service costs and operating expenses. To avoid doubts about the tender, we had it pre-assessed by Transparency International,” added Hřib.