RS1 High-Speed Rail Line Prague–Vršovice – Prague–Běchovice

Year2024

CategoryUrban Planning, Urbanism

LocationPrague

StatusIn progress

High-speed rail represents a new type of infrastructure that fundamentally affects not only the way people travel, but also the spatial arrangement of the city and landscape and the everyday life of adjoining neighbourhoods. We are working on the architectural and urban design of the RS1 Prague–Vršovice – Prague–Běchovice section as part of a multidisciplinary team seeking a way to integrate such a large transport structure into the existing urban fabric with the least possible barrier effect, while harnessing its transformative potential.

The design therefore addresses not only the railway infrastructure itself, but also pedestrian and cycle links, public spaces, green infrastructure, ecological stability and the future development of the land along the line. Urbanism, architecture, landscape architecture, transport engineering and environmental issues come together here into a single whole, with the ambition of turning essential technical infrastructure into a part of the city that respects its surroundings and contributes to their quality in the long term.

Dialogue with residents is also an important part of the process, allowing the specific experiences and needs of individual localities to be reflected in the design.

Client	Správa železnic
Design team	Martin Krupauer Pavel Kvintus Martin Sedmák Michael Vojtěchovský Lenka Pancová
Collaboration	Mott MacDonald

A City Without Barriers

One of the main themes of the design is reducing the barrier effect of the new railway. We therefore place emphasis on preserving and restoring pedestrian and cycle links, better connecting the individual parts of the area and creating high-quality crossing points over the railway infrastructure.

We therefore see the line not merely as a transport corridor, but as an intervention that must respect the everyday life of the city.

Public Space and Landscape

The scheme also includes new and revitalised public spaces, work with green infrastructure and the search for new uses for land freed up in connection with the railway. The landscape design helps to mitigate the impacts of the infrastructure, strengthen the ecological stability of the area and create a better environment for residents of the adjoining neighbourhoods.

A Place-Based Design

An important basis for the design is participation with residents and drawing on their everyday experience. This helps to identify local needs, problem areas and existing links that need to be preserved or strengthened. The resulting solution is thus based not only on the technical requirements of high-speed rail, but also on the specific character of individual localities and the life that unfolds around the new infrastructure.