PRAGUE METRO III

The project consists of an 6.1 km (double-track) extension of Metro Line A from Dejvická, its current terminal, south-westwards to Motol. The extension will have four new stations (Červený Vrch, Veleslavín, Petřiny and Motol). This operation finances the civil works and the E&M equipment. Rolling stock for the operation of the new Line A section is excluded from the operation. The project received assistance from JASPERS which has completed a favourable completion note.

The project will improve the quality of public transport service in terms of accessibility, speed, comfort and reliability and will increase the attractiveness of public transport in the urban area and in particular in north-western sector of Prague (mostly Prague 6 District), thus contributing to reduced reliance on private cars and the negative impact of transport on the environment.

The project falls under Annex II of the EIA Directive. The competent authority, namely the Municipal Council of the capital city of Prague – Division of environment protection, assessed that the project did require a full EIA. The favourable EIA Decision for the project (“approving standpoint”) was issued on November 26, 2008. It was assessed that, due to its location and character, should not have major negative impacts, and will not impact any Natura 2000 sites. In general, the metro development is expected to improve the environment due to the decreased car use (or limitation of its growth) and the reduction in bus flows. Overall, noise, air pollution and CO2 emissions should be reduced. All these issues will be analysed in depth at appraisal stage.

The Promoter is subject to and follows EU procurement procedures (namely, Directive 2004/17/EEC) including publication in the EU Official Journal. In this case, the promoter published on April 4 2009 in the bulletin of the European Union a tender notice for the civil works. A contract with the winning applicant was signed on December 22, 2009. The tender for the E&M equipment begun in August 2010 and is still in process. During the appraisal it will be verified that EU procurement directives have been followed correctly.

The Bank will support the financial contribution from the City’s resources.