Prague Launches Bus Route Through the Blanka Tunnel — Faster Than the Metro

Prague has launched a new bus route, No. 145, running through the Blanka Tunnel. It connects the Čimice and Kobylisy districts in Prague 8 with the Hradčanská and Dejvická stations in Prague 6 — the bus covers the journey in roughly 15 minutes.

By comparison, the same trip by metro, including a transfer between lines C and A in the city centre, takes 22 minutes — and up to half an hour once you factor in time spent on escalators. The so-called "tunnel bus" took nearly a decade to prepare for launch, according to Martin Šubrt, deputy director for public transport at Prague's transport authority Ropid, in comments to the industry outlet Zdopravy.cz.

Reaction and first results

According to Šubrt, the idea split Praguers into two camps: "Half the people said we'd lost our minds, the other half said the bus should have been running here ages ago," he said.

On its first day of operation, a significant share of the buses kept to schedule or even arrived ahead of time. However, the real test will come with Monday traffic — for now, the timetable reflects the school-holiday schedule. "If delays stay under three minutes, we'll be popping champagne. But even with a ten-minute delay, the time saved will still be significant — especially for elderly passengers and parents with strollers," the Ropid representative noted.

Route of bus No. 145

Heading from Čimice to Dejvice, the bus calls at: Čimice housing estate, Čimice, Liběnská, Řepínská, Podhajské pole, Čimický háj, Písečná, Služská, Kobylisy (Nad Šutkou street), Okrouhlická, Vychovatelna, Hradčanská, Vítězné náměstí.

In the opposite direction, from Dejvice to Čimice, the route runs through: Dejvická (Šolínova street), Vítězné náměstí, Hradčanská, Vychovatelna, Okrouhlická, Kobylisy, Služská, Písečná, Čimický háj, Podhajské pole, Řepínská, Liběnská, Čimice and the Čimice housing estate.

Read also: Prague Metro: Map and Tickets

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz