Tender Announced for New Tram Line on Wenceslas Square

After an absence of nearly 40 years, trams are set to again run up and down Prague’s Wenceslas Square. 

The Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) is fulfilling the plan of returning trams to the upper part of Wenceslas Square.  Today it launched a tender for the construction of a new tram line, the estimated value of the contract is CZK 1.25 billion.

The Capital City Council gave the green light to the transport company for this project in January 2019. The construction should take a maximum of 48 months, DPP expects it to start in the first half of next year.

Deputy Mayor for transport Adam Scheinherr says trams on Wenceslas Square should take the strain off other parts of the city’s transport network:

“The new connection of the line from Vinohradská to Jindřišská and Vodičkova Streets should relieve the congested connections in the centre. Today’s tram system is too dependent on the section between Lazarská and Jindřišská.”

At the moment, there is just one line passing through the city centre, and there are around 169 trams passing the line each day. The network is very crowded and when there are traffic jams or accidents, it can cause delays in the entire system.

“The construction of the new tram lines Wenceslas Square and Muzeum will create a long-missing system connection of tram lines in the centre of Prague. We are correcting the illogical decisions from the times of socialism, when tram lines were gradually abolished. The whole construction will be carried out according to the winning design from an architectural competition, which includes the creation of a new pedestrian promenade in the centre of Wenceslas Square,” added Scheinherr.

For almost a century, trams ran between the middle of Wenceslas Square and the National Museum at the top. Tram services were discontinued in December 1980.