Ministr Kupka is learning about the results of the experts' colloquium on the railway bridge

Prague – Minister of Transport Martin Kupka (ODS) received a report from a colloquium of experts regarding the railway bridge over the Vltava between Prague's Podskalí and Smíchov. Kupka will first familiarize himself with the materials and subsequently publish them. In response to a CTK inquiry, ministry spokesman Filip Medelský stated this today. The international colloquium was established to assess the condition and future of the construction, which has been in poor condition for a long time. The Railway Administration (SŽ) previously presented a project under which only the lower part with the pillars of the bridge will be preserved, while the current riveted structure will be replaced with a new one. Last week, Kupka stated that a decision regarding the future of the bridge should be made by the end of this year.

The plans of SŽ have faced opposition from the public, resulting in a petition for the preservation of the bridge, which has been signed by over 13,660 people to date. Prague 5 and the former city leadership also oppose SŽ's approach. Václav Girsa, President of the Czech National Committee of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), stated that demolishing the railway bridge and replacing it with another is unacceptable and poses a risk of international disgrace.

"The conclusions of the colloquium participants were delivered yesterday. The minister is currently familiarizing himself with the results, and they are being translated, and so on. We expect the final results of the colloquium to be released within 14 days. Then it will be published on the website," Medelský stated.

During a discussion at the National Technical Museum (NTM) on Thursday, Kupka said that the authors of the bridge reconstruction will now finalize the document and include the raised comments. The proposal for reconstruction will also be assessed. "We want to subject the reconstruction project proposal from Sudop to critical scrutiny," he said. The firm Sudop created the document in 2020. In deciding the future of the bridge, transportation and economic aspects, as well as the interests of heritage protection, should be taken into account.

Although the minister has not yet familiarized himself with all of the colloquium's conclusions, he believes it is clear that the assessment of the bridge's condition was approached carefully and honestly. "The analysis was thorough and academically correct. What varied from participant to participant was logically the inclination towards one solution or another," he added.

The now former Deputy Mayor of Prague for Transport, Adam Scheinherr (Praha Sobě), told CTK in recent weeks that, concerning the assurance of railway transport in the metropolis, reconstruction would be the fastest solution. SŽ plans to start work in 2026. If SŽ were to utilize the already completed documentation from 2020, according to Scheinherr, the repair could begin up to two years earlier than the construction of a new bridge. SŽ previously disagreed with this statement. According to SŽ, the bridge is irreparable due to its poor condition, or any repair would be disproportionately complicated.

The railway bridge at Výtoni was opened in its original form on August 15, 1872. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was replaced by the bridge that still spans the Vltava today.