Jack Fear

And we're (not) going!

Jindřich Šídlo dedicated his comments in Hospodářské noviny from July 19th, 2011 to public transport in Praha. With many of his word one can't agree more. Praha once had built up an extensive tram network, from which it still lives until today. Unfortunately the city doesn't invest in its expansion much. Let alone the new coaches. Swaggering old coaches with fiberglass seats, which sitting on you can barely handle leafing pages of the above-mentioned newspapers. Not speaking of any convenient means of transport. The tram still remains the backbone of the Praha's public transport.

Mr. Šídlo, somehow of course, couldn't avoid to comment the C line of the underground ending somewhere in the fields. I myself considerred this as inappropriate and incoherent. On the other hand, before we arrive at the terminal station Letňany we passes through a relatively populated areas of Severní město. The terminal station there in the fields has also its charm, with a bit of thoughts. Residents from the Středočeský kraj working in Praha can easily come here from certain directions. Here, in the vast parking, they can leave their cars and comfortably reach the city center without stucking in the traffic jam.

I personally prefer the transport on the bicycle. Despite all the negatives associated with traveling through Praha as a cyclist. For me the walk to tram stop takes about a quarter of an hour. To the bus about five minutes. Unfortunately the bus doesn't run regularly, and its way to the tram takes on average twice as long as on my feet. The smart intersections are essentially useless in the daily traffic jams. On the bike one breaks through better after all and much more rapidly to the very center of the city. The bus journey is pure hell. The city does nothing to solve the problems caused by the increasing density of the individual trasport. The few strips on the broad streets won't solve much of anything. The busses deserve their own strips. Stops on signs are good. More suited would be if they were electronic, so the passengers could review when their bus is comming. The timetable is absolutely unreliable.

The tram has the advantage that most of its route runs in its designated lane and is therefore more reliable. Unfortunately passengers are still waiting for the new cars. The public was presented with great fanfare the tram designed by Porsche. While nice to look at, the journey is not pleasant. Seats located longitudinally and only narrow alleys where seated passengers are kicking each other definitely doesn't mean comfort. The new tram from Škoda runs only on selected routes, probably those that don't give it too much to take. Moreover, according to some information it may be difficult to survive the first winter for it.

The underground is a chapter for itself. It doesn't pay to use it on shorter distances, since it's always necessary to descend relatively deep. For transportation from the outskirts to the city center it's an excellent mean of transport, however the transfers between the lines should better be omitted. The train could play a significant role in the future. The City Elephant coaches are comfortable and may stay clean also. They also run on time and at decent intervals. The hitch is the S lines trains are just somewhat passing through Praha from east to west and from north to south. Linking different stations by crossing the city of Praha would be a real alternative to the surface transport in Praha.

Public transport in Praha will get you basically anywhere to anywhere within the city and its vicinity. Sometimes it just requires a stronger nerves.