Some work on the repair of the train station in Č. Budějovice will be delayed

České Budějovice - Some work on the renovation of the railway station in České Budějovice will be delayed. Some load-bearing structures had to be demolished and rebuilt, which was not accounted for in the plan, said Martin Stašek, director of division 6 of the company Metrostav, to ČTK. The work will be delayed by several months, and the arrival hall will be completed by the end of this year, spokesperson for the Railway Administration (SŽ) Nela Friebová informed ČTK. The renovation of the station, costing 689.4 million crowns excluding tax, was originally planned to last until July 2023.

"We encountered issues that are difficult to predict and were not mapped out. Some of the work will thus be extended. One complication is that the building will indirectly accommodate the European Train Control System for managing trains, ETCS, and part of the building needs to be prepared for this to be managed from those rooms. The second complication arises because the building is a hundred years old and has been neglected. There is a problem with sewage in relation to groundwater; the masonry was degenerated, and some load-bearing masonry structures had to be demolished and rebuilt. This was not anticipated," said Stašek.

According to him, costs are estimated to rise by several tens of millions of crowns. SŽ stated that the planned timeline remains, according to which the arrival hall will be completed by the end of this year. "The replacement of load-bearing structures and other unforeseen work will affect the completion of the entire project by several months," Friebová said. SŽ is still clarifying the construction schedule with the construction companies. Additional work, according to Friebová, will affect the final price of the construction, but the investment costs will be calculated only after the work is completed.

The modernization of the railway station in České Budějovice began in June 2020. The dispatch building is being repaired by a consortium of companies Metrostav, Edikt, and Avers. The renovation of the arrival hall will be completed by the end of this year. A new main entrance to the building will also be created directly from Lannova Street. The entire route from the underpasses under the platforms through the building to Lannova Street will be fully barrier-free.

During the renovation of the station, operational spaces will be changed and improved, areas for commercial use will be adjusted, publicly accessible places will be modernized, and an administrative and operational background for the employees of the Railway Administration will be created. Shops will be located in the most frequented areas.

The station in České Budějovice, whose building is a protected monument, is one of the busiest. In recent years, thanks to the modernization of the fourth corridor, travel times to Prague have been reduced. Trains now cover the approximately 150-kilometer route in two hours; in the future, this should take 90 minutes. Czech Railways recently renewed express trains to Linz, and thousands of tourists pass through the station during regular operations, heading towards Šumava and Lipno or going to raft the Vltava River.

Last year, division 6 of Metrostav had a turnover of 800 million crowns, which is a hundred million more than the previous year. The division employs between 50 and 60 people, half of whom are technical and economic staff, while the other half are workers, 60 percent of whom are Ukrainians. Ukrainian workers are crucial for the company. The construction projects they are working on are still ongoing.