At the Veleslavín metro station, there will be a parking lot for 600 cars

Prague - A parking lot for 600 cars and a bus terminal will likely be built near the under-construction Veleslavín station of the Prague metro, which is part of the extension of the metro to Motol. Prague councilors decided today to resume preparations for this construction, which the city had previously postponed due to a lack of funds. Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS) told reporters this. The city faced the risk that if the parking lot was not built, it would not receive a seven billion crown subsidy from the EU for the metro construction.
     Initially, it was expected that by the time the new section of the metro opens in 2014, a bus terminal and a P+R parking lot would be operational at Dlouhá Míle in the Dědina housing estate, as required by the environmental impact assessment. The terminal was to be part of the modernization of the Prague - Kladno railway line with a branch to the airport, but that has been postponed. The city then considered a terminal at the Veleslavín station, but its construction was estimated to cost about 1.3 billion crowns.
     "Since the beginning of 2012, more economical surface variants have been sought that would only allow parking spaces for a maximum of 120 cars. However, we realistically expect that this extent will not be acceptable to the European Commission and could be a reason for rejecting the application for funding from European funds," said the mayor. The transport company will therefore return to the project that included 600 parking spaces.
     The terminal should consist of a building with three underground and two above-ground floors. However, it will only be completed after the new section of the metro opens.
     The construction of the metro is expected to cost about 19 billion crowns based on the price level from 2008. The transport company of the capital city of Prague (DPP) aims to secure a subsidy of approximately 287.7 million euros (7.4 billion crowns) from the EU. The European Commission has been considering DPP's subsidy application since last August, but the approval process has been suspended.
     The company will also borrow part of the funding for the metro extension from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The new metro section will be over six kilometers long and is expected to be operational in 2014. It will include four new stations: Červený Vrch, Veleslavín, Petřiny, and Motol. Originally, Prague planned to build the metro all the way to the airport in Ruzyně, but due to a lack of funds, the route was shortened. Thus, the Dlouhá Míle stop was removed from the plan.