New Bridges for Railway Line No. 194
22nd November 2022
The single-track regional line No. 194, connecting České Budějovice with the heart of Bohemian Forest (Šumava in Czech), has received an elegant solution in the agglomeration. On the outskirts of the South Bohemian metropolis, it now runs over two bridges that span the future roundabout.
České Budějovice chronically suffers from excessive transit traffic, which will only be definitively solved by the construction of new sections of the D3 motorway in the cadastre of the South Bohemian metropolis. They will include the so-called South Tangent, a roughly three-kilometre-long connection between current I/3 road (the connection will be at Boršov nad Vltavou) and Roudné off-ramp. The Tangent, which is being built by COLAS CZ, a.s. in consortium with Firesta-Fišer, will also include a six-lane "super intersection" between Včelná and Rožnov. A cycle path will run above it, and above all, there will lead a monorail from České Budějovice to Český Krumlov. Because of the construction, trains had to run along a half-kilometre long relocation for about a year. However, this had changed this September and now the trains are heading to the south above the level of the junction on a brand new track and two bridges.
Not only were the passengers, who had to take alternative bus services for the first two weeks of September due to a planned closure of the line, relieved, but so were drivers. In the end, they were not affected by the closures due to the transfer of the line to the new tracks above the off-grade crossing. A part of the Tangent at the Český Krumlov exit road was opened during the ongoing railway works, so that cars could drive along the section, ehich should finally be put into operation in spring of 2023.
At the end of this July, the second railway line that crosses the South Tangent have already been opened - a line No. 196 towards Dolní Dvořiště and further to Austria. One of its attractions is that it follows the route of a historic horse-drawn railway, the first railway ever on our territory. More in the south of České Budějovice, a new railway bridge over the future motorway feeder has been in service since this summer.
"The Southern Tangent, which includes, among other things, six bridges, 300 metres of noise barriers and repairs to several connecting roads, is scheduled to be completed in 2023. The next year in spring, we are going to be laying the surfaces towards D3," adds Michal Kořínek, Manager of the Area SOUTH of COLAS CZ.
The second stage of the South Tangent is planned for the future. It is to be 5.5 kilometres long and shall run between Vidov and Plav towards Heřmaň and Borovnice and then connect to the road to Trhové Sviny after Nová Ves. ŘSD (Road and Motorway Directorate) expects the second part of the Southern Tangent to be in service in 2029.
