Off the leash and off schedule: Young pup causes chaos on Prague metro

A young pup has caused major delays on Prague’s green metro line A, forcing the system to suspend service for nearly five hours, with disruption still ongoing.

The stray pup, humorusly nicknamed Metrouš by social media, ran into a tunnel at Motol station around 9 a.m., prompting a full shutdown of the line while firefighters, police officers, and the trapping service attempted to capture it. 

“[The dog] moved in various ways along the line, and finally it was caught at Malostranská station at 2 p.m.,” the Prague Public Transport Company reported in the last hour.

Metro trains remain stopped or delayed along the Dejvická–Motol section of line A. Authorities initially searched Petřiny station before moving the rescue effort to Malostranská and Hradčanská stations, where they eventually found the pup. Police say Metrouš is “probably a one-year-old German shepherd. We do not yet know if it is a female or a male.”

Replacement bus service XA runs on the Veleslavín Train Station–Motol Hospital route, while tram lines 1, 2, and 180 cover other disrupted sections. Tram lines 20 and 26 are available between Dejvická and Nádraží Veleslavín. 

Tram line 8 has also been redirected to help move passengers through the affected area, serving the Vítězné náměstí–Dejvická–Bořislavka–Nádraží Veleslavín–Divoká Šárka section, which remains a crucial alternative while metro service is down.

The Line A disruption is the second major metro interruption in two days. Line C briefly suspends service on Wednesday due to a technical fault at Pankrác station, and tram service is also affected Thursday morning by a utility network failure near Drinopol stop, limiting lines 22 and 25.

Prague City Transport expects full restoration of line A service around 3 p.m., but some delays along the line remain ongoing. The company apologizes for the inconvenience and advises passengers to call an English-friendly infoline at 296 19 18 17 for updates.

Inputting your journey on the DPP website (available in English) will allow you to check whether your commute or planned route will be disrupted. You may also plan your route and see all changes via the PID Lítačka phone app.