Trams to return to Prague's Malá Strana a week earlier than expected

Tram service will return to Prague's Malá Strana district almost a week earlier than originally planned, Prague public transport authority DPP spokesperson Aneta Řehková told Czech News Agency this weekend.

Due to favorable conditions and warmer winter weather, repairs to the tracks have been progressing faster than expected. Tram service was originally expected to be restored by April 1, but will now be back in operation from Monday, March 27, five days ahead of the original timetable.

Tram service has been halted in Malá Strana between the Klárov tram stop at the Malostranská metro station and the Újezd stop underneath Petřín Hill since January 28. The section comprises most of lower Malá Strana's tram service, with replacement buses taking passengers on alternate routes.

The area, located adjacent to Charles Bridge and underneath Prague Castle, is among the Czech capital's most heavily tourist-trafficked. Prague's nostalgic tram no. 42 has been running an alternate route due to the repairs, missing most of the historic Malá Strana area.

Due to favorable conditions, however, the repairs are ahead of schedule and will now be completed a week earlier than expected.

"A relatively warm winter and suitable climatic conditions can have positive effects in a number of specific cases, as we saw in the repairs of the tram line in Malá Strana," says DPP's technical director Jan Surovsky. "We made the most of it and managed to shorten the repair by one whole working week."

From Tuesday, March 14, repairs of the tram line in Malá Strana will enter the fourth and final stage. They will target Újezd street between the intersections with Všehrdová and Vítězná streets, with this area closed to all traffic including automotive in both directions through March 26.

The tram line through lower Malá Strana sees some of the most frequent tram travel in all of Prague. Previous repairs on the line took place at Malostranské náměstí in 2018, and in other sections in 2011 and 2002.

"Traffic here is very intense," adds Surovsky. "In 1995, 18 trams per hour passed through here, and today we have 39.5 trams per hour. [Prague's] oldest rails are being quickly degraded."