May 9th, 1974: Prague Metro Celebrates 50 Years Today!
The Prague Metro turns 50 today! On May 9th, 1974, the first section of Line C, stretching 6.6 kilometers with 9 stations, opened its doors to the public. Today, the network boasts a tenfold increase, with 61 stations spanning the bustling Czech capital. The concept of a Prague subway dates back surprisingly far – 1898, to be exact. Ladislav Rott, a visionary engineer, presented a proposal to the city’s electricity company. Unfortunately, the idea wasn’t embraced at the time. Another proposal in 1926, by Bohumil Belada and Vladimír List, was the first to use the term “Metro”, and though it was not accepted either, it served as an impulse for moving towards a real solution of the rapidly developing transport in Prague. In the early 1960s the concept of the sub-surface tramway was finally accepted and on 9 August 1967 the building of the first station (Hlavní nádraží) started. However, in the same year, a substantial change in the concept came, as the government, under the influence of Soviet advisers, decided to build a true metro system instead of an underground tramway. Fast forward to 1966, and the groundwork finally began. Construction took nearly a decade, culminating in the 1974...
