Prague underground, which Czech people call the ‘Metro’ has only three lines – Line A, B, C and it’s a quick and easy way to get across the whole of Prague. The three lines intersect in the middle and you can easily change to A, B or C line regardless of which line you are on.
The whole Prague underground network is only 62 km long and has 61 stations in total. The first station opened in 1974, and new sections of metro have been added each decade or so.
This year (2024) the Prague Metro celebrates 50 years with exhibitions, events and open days throughout the year. The celebrations start this spring, so if you are visiting Prague in April or May, you can visit the Kacerov Depo on 4 May 2024 or ride on the historic metro trains on 8 May 2024.
I feel like to have a special connection with Prague Underground, as my dad helped to build it – he worked as an electrician for the company called Metrostav which built the metro.
Growing up, me and my brother used to play with the underground safety helmets with lights and batteries (similar to a miner’s lamps) at home and we used to pretend we were going down the tunnels to build the underground too. We also saw the metro plans and other materials, so when I visited the new line B, when it opened in 1985 (I was 10 at the time), I felt like I already knew the metro inside out!
How to experience Prague Metro
I’ve put together my favourite facts about Prague Metro and included the locations, where you can see the best parts of the metro. If you are, like me a bit nerdy and interested in the Prague industrial heritage, then this is a great self-guided tour you can do when it’s raining or in the evening.
Just make sure that you have a valid ticket for the whole time – either a long timed ticket or one day ticket.
READ MORE
Taste the Metro Dezert – Prague Underground’s own cake
Before you head down to the underground, you first need to get the perfect snack for the journey! ‘The Metro Dezert! You might be surprised to learn that to celebrate the first underground section opening in 1974, the Metro got its own cake sweets. It was specially designed by then the state-owned bakery and was given to the first guests who travelled on the underground on the 9th of May 1974.
Designed as a little train carriage, the cake sweets are made with a soft vanilla sponge with jam outside and are covered in almond pastry and half dipped in chocolate. They are one of my favourite types of sweets and you can still buy them in any larger supermarket.
The sweet company sometimes runs the original packaging from 1974 so they have a pretty retro feel. You can’t miss the sweets in the pasty/cakes section in any large supermarket in Prague and they are of course called ‘Metro dezert’.
Ride the longest escalators at Namesti Miru – The deepest underground station
The deepest Prague underground station is at Namesti Miru (The Peace Square). The train station is 52 metres deep under the ground, which also means that Namesti Miru station has the longest escalators in the whole Prague underground system.
The city centre stations and lines were dug deep under the historic buildings, but the outer ends of the underground lines were built using the ‘cut and cover’ method, which means that these are only a few metres under the surface.
Visit the newly reconstructed station – Jiriho z Podebrad
The Jiřího z Poděbrad metro station in Prague was recently (2023) completely renovated as one of the first underground stations to undergo a complete upgrade.
The station got back it’s gleaming shine and the wonderful colour scheme of peacock blue and golden yellow. A subtle, but important change was also going back to the original style of lighting, which made the whole station look a lot more glamorous.
The station vestibule and the pillars are tiled with real marble and the floor is from granite.
The visible part of the underground tunnel is covered in fine anodized aluminium plates.
The station was originally designed by architect Anna Hübschmannová. It was opened on December 19, 1980, as part of the second section of metro line A. The original escalator has been also restored and takes you down to the station level 45 metres below the ground.
One thing the Prague underground still can’t seem to get right is to move the escalators at the same speed as the handrails, which is probably one of the reasons why nobody is holding on to them!
See the Overground parts of The Prague underground
While you’ll travel mainly under the ground, the line to Vysehrad station travels through Nuselsky Most (Bridge) some 42 metres above a deep valley.
Also if you happen to go to Prague Airport via line B and travel to Zlicin the train will take you through a glass tunnel where you’ll be able to see the Stodulky park and the new high-rise flats from 1980-90.
The new station at Depo Hostivar is also interesting because the train suddenly emerges from the tunnel into the light and the last part of the ride is within the old railway depot which was already at Hostivar.
The photo above is from the new station at Strizkov on line C, which was opened in 2008 and won awards for innovative design. Whilst the station is cut into the ground, it’s also completely visible from the outside.
Follow THE communist style influence on the Prague metro
If you want to see the influence of the Russian communist style in the Prague underground, you should head over to Andel station on line B, where you can still see some of the best examples.
The station was originally called Moskevka and spookily (on purpose, of course) it opened on the same day as the Prague underground station in Moscow in 1985. Both sides of the Andel underground station have art panels promoting Czech & Soviet friendship at the time.
The Andel side of the underground entrance has been toned down and the old name removed, but on the other side (exiting to the ‘Na Knizeci’ bus station) you can still see the old station name. There is also an exhibition of the metro architecture, which you can see in the station vestibule.
After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, a lot of the politically charged underground station names were renamed. For example – Gottwaldova become Vysehrad, Kosmonautu – Haje, Mladeznicka – Pankrac, Budovatelu – Chodov, Druzby – Opatov, Fucikova – Nadrazi Holesovice, Primatora Vacka – Roztyly, Leninova – Dejvicka, Dukelska – Nove Butovice, Moskevska – Andel, Svermova – Jinonice.
Medieval bridge at Mustek underground station
If you want to see a real piece of history, stop off at Mustek Underground station, where you will see the remains of a medieval bridge. This was a bridge that was found when the station was being built and it was preserved together with the old house foundations.
Listen to The underground announcements
The underground announcement for each station hasn’t changed much since 1974. The only thing that’s different is that the original message didn’t include the word ‘prosim’ = please (when asking people to get on and off the train).
Oh, and by the way if you are used to travelling on London underground nobody mentions any ‘gaps’ on the Prague underground, we simply ask you to get off the train!
The announcement means something like – ‘Please finish getting on and off the train, the doors are closing’.
Explore the Prague Metro architecture and style
Each metro line has its own aesthetic character, from photogenic bubble facades on line A to the futuristic design at the end of line C. The yellow line B stretches between them and for anyone interested in this period, it has several curious communist remnants, like the Andel station (see my notes above).
The underground was designed by Czech architects, the only station that was designed by Russian architects was Moskevska – Andel. This was because at the same time there was a ‘Prague’ underground station being built in Moscow and our architects were designing it as part of a reciprocal agreement.
The metro train stock
Since the beginning in 1974, there have been only four main types of train designs. The first two trains were designed and made in Prague – Smichov by a company that also made the trams at the time.
The problem was that the original prototypes were nearly 20 cm wider than the current trains, which meant that they would fit into the tunnels! The government was also worried that the company wouldn’t be able to supply enough of the trains, so in the end, the first trains were imported from Russia. The current train design stock has been in operation since 2000.
The underground train always has 5 carriages and each platform is around 100 metres long and completely straight.
The busiest station & the least busy
If you want to experience the most crowded stations, you should visit the I. P. Pavlova and Dejvická, especially during the morning and evening rush hours. The most crowded metro section is from I. P. Pavlova to Vyšehrad and Pražského povstání station.
Among the least used stations are Kolbenova and Radlická. There was supposed to be a housing estate built at Radlická station, but the construction was abandoned after the political changes in 1989. The underground trains still stop at the station, but hardly anyone gets off or on.
Visit the Rajska Zahrada – the only two level station
Rajská Zahrada on line B, in the Černý Most housing estate became the first station with platforms on two levels: trains from the centre arrive at the first above-ground level, while trains heading into the city arrive at the second – lower level below the ground. The station was awarded the Building of the Year title in 1999.
The longest & shortest distance between the stations
The shortest distance between two stations is a 425-meter stretch between Hlavní nádraží and Muzeum stations. I hardly ever travel between these two stations, as most of the time is quicker and easier to walk than to go down and up the escalators and wait for the train.
On the other hand, the longest inter-station stretch of the metro measures 2,748 meters and is between Nádraží Holešovice and Kobylisy stations.
The Original Metro entrance gates
The original entrance to the underground (until the mid-90s I think) was through gates, that only opened when you put in 1 CZK crown coin, which was the standard adult fare. There were no tickets, just the coin operated gates, so once you were in, nobody was checking whether you paid or not.
Children travelled free, but I remember I nearly got hit by the barrier because I wasn’t quick enough to follow my mum in and since then I was quite scared going through them. I’ve also seen people quickly passing through behind others or jumping over the barriers, which is why probably they were eventually removed and the current ticket system introduced.
You can still see the original entrance gates in the Tram Museum in Vrsovice – Prague 7.
Find out more about Metro at Muzeum MHD – Prague Public Transport Museum
The tram depot in Prague-Střešovice has a pretty amazing collection from the history of public transport in Prague. You can find over forty historical trams and buses and many other exhibits, including an area dedicated to the Prague Metro, models, photographs, historical documents, tickets, and maps.
This is one of my favourite museums in Prague – the entrance fee is moderate and you can easily spend a few hours there.
You can also see what the first metro looked like, including photographs, tickets and old posters. The Prague Public Transit Company keeps three more metro trains as a historical set and puts them into operation on line C on various anniversaries.
The beginnings of Prague Metro – Underground history
Although the first part of the Prague underground was officially not open until 1974, there were plans to build underground since 1898.
The first proposal was by Ladislav Rott, who thought that whilst the town was building its first proper sewage works pipes, the underground could be dug up at the same time and follow similar lines.
It was a pretty genius idea if you ask me, but sadly Rott’s plans were never approved. As a side note, Rott had one of the most famous ironmongery shops in Prague at the time. The house and the name are still there, but the shop has been turned into an upmarket hotel. You can find it at the Small Quare just outside the Old Town Square as you walk towards the historic Charles Bridge. The ironmongery shop has been moved to a small side shop, where you can also see one shop window set up as a little museum display of the shop and the house.
More proposals for the new underground were put forward in the 1920, 30 and 40s, but none were deemed to be suitable or got permission from the town council.
Before the Second World War, the three main lines were designed and planned out, but the war and events after the war stopped any further development. Finally, in 1967 work started on the first underground station, which was under the main train station – Hlavni Nadrazi.
In a true Czech fashion, the first section opened wasn’t called A, but C (we like to do things that don’t make much sense…).This slightly confusing way of labelling the new underground was because the original plans were designed as A,B,C before the war and the architects and builders decided that the most important (or perhaps easier) was to start with the line that was labelled as C on the plans.
The first section was completed in 1974 and the trains started to run from Florenc (then Sokolovska) to Kacerov on line C.
Line A was opened in 1978 and line B opened in 1985.
The newest stations opened are the last 4 stops on line A from Dejvicka to Nemocnice Motol in 2015. This was a slightly controversial addition to line A, because the original plan was to extend it to the Prague airport. But something went wrong and instead, the line was diverted back towards the centre and to the Motol hospital, which is in Prague 5.
Work has already started on a new line D (Blue line) which will run from Namesti Miru (The Peace Square) to Pisnice with 10 new stations in between, including stops at Nemocnice Krc and Libus. The planned D line, expected to be operational in 2029, is set to be Prague’s first and only computer-controlled and driverless line.
This blog post was originally written on 8 April 2024 and last updated on 8 April 2024
PIN TO KEEP FOR LATER