The railway workers selected a designer for the renovation of the facade of the main train station in Prague

Prague - The Railway Administration (SŽDC) has selected a designer for the reconstruction of the façade and roofing of the historic building of Prague's main train station. Construction work on the so-called Fant building, interrupted by the termination of cooperation with the current tenant of the station, the Italian company Grandi Stazioni, could resume by the end of next year. CTK was informed of this today by SŽDC spokesman Pavel Tesař.

The winner of the tender for the new project is the company H-PRO in partnership with the Design Studio for Architecture and Civil Engineering, with a price of approximately 3.6 million crowns. "During the next year, public administrative proceedings on the project will begin, the result of which will be the acquisition of a valid building permit and other necessary public administrative permits and opinions," Tesař said. Completion of the work is expected in 2021.

Grandi Stazioni was to have leased the main station for another 30 years based on a contract from 2003, provided that they completed the reconstruction of the entire building by October 16 last year. However, they failed to do so, and SŽDC subsequently refused to extend the lease, which sparked legal disputes and interrupted the ongoing reconstruction.

Due to the termination of the contract, the Italian company demanded compensation for damages of more than 770 million crowns. Of that amount, SŽDC already paid 565 million crowns in November last year as eligible costs for the partial reconstruction of Prague's station.

In the 13 years since the signing of the contracts, Grandi Stazioni completed the repair of the central part of the building and the station's check-in hall. The interiors of the side wings are still awaiting repair.

Grandi Stazioni was majority-owned by the Italian railways until the middle of last year. The company is now owned by the French investment fund Antin and the Italian investor group Borletti Group. In 2015, the company made a profit of 64.8 million crowns from the lease of Prague's main train station and the station in Mariánské Lázně.