Prague Part Four, Getting Around

Prague has some interesting features in this area, so I thought a blog post was in order.


Walking

You are going to see most just by walking, and most of the city can be done on foot. However, I want to talk about the pavements. About 90% of the pavements are surfaced in bricks of dark and light grey, in attractive geometric designs.






It all helps to make the city very attractive.


Prague Metro

Plans for a metro system date to the later nineteenth century, but it was not until 1974 that the first section opened. Today there are three lines in operation, imaginatively named A, B and C. A fourth is under construction. You can guess the name.


The system is integrated with the buses, trams, ferries and suburban trains and you can use the same ticket on them all. Here is a 90 minute ticket I used to get to the airport by Metro, then bus. They have to be stamped before use (tickets purchased on board are automatically stamped).


Buses

The interesting thing about the buses is that some are trolley buses - they are powered by overhead wires. You can see that this requires two wires, one live and one return, unlike trains and trams, which can use the rails as the return.


These trolley buses are bimodal; they can also operate under battery power. Also note how long they are!

In general, buses do not go into the centre of Prague, supposedly because the taxi drivers object, but actually because the trams do it instead.


Trams

The trams seem to be ubiquitous, and there is quite a mix of old and new. This view could almost be from the communist era, though it was taken just 100 m from Charles Bridge.


Here is a rather more modern example.


The tram system has to negotiate roads not built with trams in mind. Here you can see a point where there is not room for two trans to pass, so the two tracks come together.


Like the metro, the tram system is being extended. Here is a junction under construction by the National Museum.


Railways

There are also standard railways; I did not venture on them. The main station is behind the Nation Museum.



Funicular

The Petřín funicular was first built in 1891, but closed in 1914. It was completely rebuilt in 1932, but closed in 1965 due to a landslide. After another rebuilt is opened again in 1985. This time it lasted to 2024. It is currently being repaired and restored.

This is as close as I got (the line up the hill).


Note the line of orange penguins on the right! This is one o a number of art installations in the city by Czech artist  David Černý.




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