Liberec on the map of European railways!

On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, the European Parliament approved a revision of the TEN-T network of major European railways and expanded it to include the Prague–Mladá Boleslav – Liberec – Frýdlant v Čechách – Zgorzelec – Görlitz. The Liberec Region’s long-standing efforts to improve the railway between Liberec and Prague have thus achieved an important milestone.

“The line to Liberec is effectively reaching a level of importance comparable to that of other corridors in the country. The main Czech corridors are gradually undergoing modernization, and thanks to time savings and improved service quality, passenger numbers on these lines have increased severalfold. For all those responsible for the railways, this is a clear signal that they no longer need to delay improving the rail connection to the fifth-largest city in Bohemia and can fully launch standard project preparation, rather than merely repeating general studies in vain, as has been the case until now,” said Martin Půta, governor of the Liberec Region, regarding this landmark decision. “The inclusion of the line on the map of European corridors effectively entails requirements for electrification, increased capacity, and safety measures. A binding deadline for commissioning has also been set, along with the possibility of drawing on European funds for construction. All of this has been missing in Liberec until now and has delayed concrete steps to improve the local railway.”

Both residents and regional politicians across all parties view the lack of a high-speed rail line from Liberec to Prague as a major problem. To support this initiative, which is subject to a decision by the national government, the Liberec Region is also actively taking other practical steps. “We want to modernize the line from Liberec to Prague as soon as possible, which is why we have begun preparations to update the Liberec Region’s Spatial Development Principles, in which the new corridor for the modernized railway will be spatially anchored. The extension of train service between Liberec and Černousy—currently under negotiation—to the Polish border station of Zawidów is also part of the plan to support the future high-speed connection from Prague to Liberec, including its cross-border extension to the major transit hub in Görlitz,” added Jan Sviták, the Liberec Region’s Deputy Governor for Transportation, regarding the region’s other activities.

The Liberec Region is planning to improve the rail connection via Zawidów in close cooperation with the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. This effort also ties in with the Polish project currently getting underway to restore passenger train service between the cities of Zgorzelec and Bogatynia, as most of the track to the border station at Zawidów also serves as a connection toward Bogatynia. “A modern rail network is the foundation of a region’s economic and social development. That is why, in Lower Silesia, the provincial government has launched Poland’s largest and most pioneering project to restore defunct rail lines as part of the fight against transportation exclusion. So far, since 2019, we have restored access to rail service for 200,000 residents of Lower Silesia, and we are continuing our efforts. We are also striving to improve key cross-border and international connections so that the residents of Lower Silesia and the Liberec Region can maintain even closer contact with one another and have expanded opportunities for work and education on both sides of the border,” added Cezary Przybylski, Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, regarding the progress.

Currently, residents of the Liberec Region must rely on buses when traveling to Prague, as the rail connection between Liberec and Prague—87 kilometers away—literally stagnated in the last century at a travel speed of around 35 km/h, with passengers still having to transfer between trains along the way. “When commuting from the Liberec region to Prague, you have to reserve a seat on the bus at least a week in advance; on the day of travel, it’s hopelessly sold out. During off-peak hours, you’ll have trouble finding a reasonably fast connection at all. If you need to work during the trip, your laptop will inconvenience the passenger sitting next to you on the bus. If large passengers happen to be seated next to each other, they certainly won’t be feeling fresh after an hour-long bus ride,” added Pavel Blažek, a passenger and representative of KORID LK, the company that coordinates public transportation in the Liberec Region.

The public transportation situation in the Liberec Region today differs fundamentally from that in other parts of the Czech Republic, where the government has already modernized the rail lines and, at regular intervals, funds direct express and rapid-service trains while deploying more comfortable cars with additional onboard services.

Joint press release from the Liberec Region and KORID LK