Work includes the construction of the new 660m-long Deboreč hill tunnel, which was broken through in February 2020, and the 840m Mezno tunnel, which was bored through in August (pictured).
The new line will largely deviate from the existing alignment, reducing the length by 2km and will help to reduce journey times between Prague and České Budějovice to around an hour. The total cost of the project is Koruna 7.16bn ($US 330m) of which the EC is contributing Koruna 4.2bn.
The EC says improvements on the corridor will promote modal shift from road to rail for traffic travelling between Prague and Southern Bohemia. Work is expected to be completed in 2023.
The corridor improvement project began in 2005 with improvements from Ševětín to Soběslav, Doubí u Tábora - Sudoměřice u Tábora, Votic - Prague-Hostivař and improvements to track at the České Budějovice railway junction already completed. Work continues on introducing a four-track section between Prague-Hostivař and Prague-Vršovice along with modernisation of the section from Soběslav to Doubí near Tábor. Work is also planned to upgrade the Nemanice - Ševětín section.
