It started with a tram

A glorious and long-awaited event took place on January 7, 1966. According to the contemporary press, it was a Friday and the clock showed exactly fourteen hours and two minutes. The moment when the construction of the subsurface tramway began, which, when completed, was to solve the unbearable state of transport in the capital of Czechoslovakia at that time.

In the long-lasting dispute over whether Prague's underground public transport should be serviced by trams or metro sets, the trams seemed to have won, at least temporarily. But in fact they had not. On the contrary, the disputes over the concept of Prague's rapid transit system was gaining momentum. In the initial phases of the construction work, the city's inhabitants were already starting to feel the adverse effects of one of the largest domestic construction projects of the twentieth century. Part of the Vrchlický orchard with a pond was destroyed, and from 15 March 1967, the vast area became an open construction site, which over time extended to the upper end of Wenceslas Square, causing complications to both traffic and city life.

Even then, transport engineers were pointing out that trams with a planned capacity of 14,000 passengers per day would not be able to cover the required demand. The metro, which offered to carry 36,000 passengers per hour, fared much better in comparison. Trams would have to be built with doors only on the right side, and stations with side platforms, which appeared to be less convenient for passengers. If we add to that the additional complications of the increased height of the trams' passage profile (due to the overhead pantograph), or their influence on urban traffic and climatic influences on the surface sections, it can be seen that there were enough arguments for building a conventional metro. Thus, in August 1967, the government decided that the underground tramway already under construction would be converted on the go into a metro.

Traces of the original plans can also be seen in the second station, Muzeum, on Line C, which was born before the change in the traffic layout. It is unusually spacious, as it was intended as a transfer station with four tracks running at the same level. Passengers were to transfer via the elevated level. The station canopy is full width with no internal support columns. This solution was made possible by using prestressed ceiling beams, which were successfully used at other stations - for example Florenc, Pražského povstání, Chodov, Opatov, Háje, etc.

What were the subsurface tramway sections supposed to look like? Their form was described by Ing. Vanďas in the magazine Science and Technology for Youth in 1964. There were 3 underground routes, which were mainly on the right bank of the Vltava River in the areas of Wenceslas Square and Old Town Square, and were marked A, B and C in accordance with today's designation of metro routes. The routes are described in more detail below.

It is also interesting to note that Vanďas states that Line A was proposed to be built first, as it would bring the greatest benefit to passengers by significantly shortening the journey from Dejvice to the centre. For example, the journey from Bruska station to Ovocný trh station would take 6 minutes. Three years after the start of the construction of Line A, the B tunnel would be started. The completion of both tunnels was planned for 1975. Line C would be the last to be completed after Praha-Hlavní nádraží was vacated. The whole network was to be completed around 1980.

In the end, Line C was the first to be constructed, but the designation of the lines was not changed regardless of the order in which they were built and put into operation.