Prague bus chaos at Smíchov station: what happened and why

On Monday morning, PID bus services collapsed around Smíchov railway station in Prague: passengers sat in traffic and waited up to an hour for transport. According to the official profile of the Prague Integrated Transport system, the causes were a planned closure, heavy traffic and undisciplined car drivers.

What happened on Moulíkova street

“Our dispatchers had to manage traffic from seven to eleven o'clock. The problem was several badly parked cars on Moulíkova street, which carries not only city but also suburban lines from Strakonická,” said transport company spokesman Daniel Šabík. According to one passenger, Moulíkova was completely gridlocked from 6:15: buses detour there, and cars were parked on both sides despite the bans. Jams built up in both directions, and even trams stopped for a time.

Around eight in the morning, a notice appeared on the PID website saying that from half past seven, services to and from Prague were running 30–60 minutes late because of construction work on Nádražní street. The restriction on the rails was minor: only tram No. 12 was eight minutes late during the morning rush hour. Some buses did not reach their terminus: lines 125, 190 and 197 were diverted or shortened and did not call at Smíchov station.

What passengers say

“The trip from Zbraslav to Smíchov took 57 minutes,” wrote one passenger, although the timetable puts the journey at a quarter of an hour. The buses, along with their passengers, were stuck as if in a trap. Another passenger said the driver of line 129 bypassed the jam and let people off at the tram turning loop, overtaking about four buses from Zbraslav that were standing on Moulíkova. One passenger suggested the queues would be back the next morning.

What has changed and what comes next

From 12:20 on Monday, PID staff moved bus departures: stops G and H, meaning the lines to Modřany, Zbraslav, Dobříš and Příbram, relocated to Strakonická street in front of stop I. After the morning rush hour ended, traffic near the station stabilised and the diverted lines returned to their usual routes.

The police did not intervene on site: the situation was handled by dispatchers. Police spokesman Jan Daněk said no preventive measures were planned for Tuesday. The transport company, for its part, confirmed a change for Tuesday morning that should help: the stop has been moved from Moulíkova to Strakonická so that buses from the centre no longer have to turn into Moulíkova. There is an agreement on cooperation with the city police, but a repeat of the collapse cannot be ruled out.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz