Just a year ago, a long-awaited transfer of railway stations under SŽDC took place. In the first year of the railway station administration, the state organisation spent over CZK 215 million for repairs, building modifications or project preparations. There are fully completed 149 construction projects worth nearly CZK 110 million. Dozens of larger or smaller repairs are in progress. The transformation, for instance, took place at the stations in Kostomlaty nad Labem, Dobříš, or Rakovník. In August, the last stage of the reconstruction of Náchod railway station will have been completed. Passengers are using a new railway station in Karlovy Vary or Česká Lípa.
"Passengers are using a new railway station in Karlovy Vary or Česká Lípa. The transformation also took place at the station buildings in Kostomlaty nad Labem, Dobříš, or Rakovník. In August, the last stage of the reconstruction of Náchod railway station will have been completed. The railway stations are mostly in a poor state, so we will invest into them about 10 billion crowns during the following years”, said Mr Dan Ťok, the Minister of Transport.
The disparity between repairs and more extensive reconstructions in the first year of the station administration is due to the fact that České dráhy (Czech Railways) had not prepared, with a few exceptions, any construction project. Moreover, SŽDC has different ideas about the scale and nature of the reconstruction and revitalization of railway stations.
“This is why there are repairs scheduled to be done this year for almost 600 million crowns. Another 57 million crowns are going to commence more extensive reconstructions of seven railway stations. This year, we will also spend 90 million crowns for the project preparation of almost 70 railway stations. In the coming years, we expect a significant increase in the volume of investment funds in reconstructions”, explained Mr Tomáš Drmola, Deputy DG for Assets Management of SŽDC.
The purchase of the part of assets of České dráhy, which included 1,569 buildings and 1,385,000 square meters of land in nearly 950 locations of passenger stations, was undoubtedly a long-awaited event of the year 2016. České dráhy sold it for 3.31 billion crowns. The transaction did not concern the main station in Brno and Prague Masaryk Station. By the end of last year, the entire process of purchasing of the part of the firm was successfully completed even in terms of necessary legislative formalities.
Six regionally operating Passenger Station Administrations are responsible for management of railway stations in the SŽDC structure. They are situated in Prague, Plzeň, Ústí nad Labem, Hradec Králové, Olomouc and Brno. Funds are allocated according to the current state of the building, need for acute repairs, density of rail transport, frequency of passengers, number of structures and other factors. Repairs take place across the entire republic.
This year, SŽDC will start reconstructing the railway stations in Břeclav, Kuřim, Hradec Králové, Turnov, Lipník nad Bečvou, Přerov and Sokolov. The estimated total investment costs for the launched reconstructions are approximately CZK 211 million and about 57 million will be invested out of this amount this year. The final stage of the reconstruction of Náchod railway station for about 14 million crowns is before completion.
The actual implementation of the constructions had to be preceded by updates of project documentation, which SŽDC purchased from České dráhy.
The year 2018 will already be marked by major renovations. SŽDC is finalising the preparation of the programme for the reconstruction and revitalisation of passenger stations for the years 2018-2022, which will be presented by the station administrator at the end of the summer holidays.
(Source: SZDC)
