Prague’s public transport operator (DPP) began trial operations at the new Hloubětín depot on Friday. From Saturday, 22 March 2025, after five years and almost nine months, the depot will once again handle trams on regular routes.
The construction of the main part of the depot, including a new hall for tram parking and repairs, as well as the reconstruction and modernisation of most of the premises, began in September 2022. The project was fully funded by the City of Prague. In the future, the new Škoda 52T trams will also be stationed there.
The central part of the new depot is a hall with 22 tracks. It is divided into a storage hall (tracks 1–17), with a capacity for up to 61 articulated trams up to 32 metres in length (such as the 15T model or the 52T currently in production), and a maintenance hall (tracks 18–22) with six stations and capacity for up to 12 articulated vehicles. The two areas are structurally separated, reducing the need for constant heating and lighting, which helps save energy. The parking hall is only heated to around 5°C, while the maintenance hall is equipped with state-of-the-art technology for servicing low-floor trams.
Alongside the construction of the new hall, the external track harbour was renovated and expanded, and new overhead lines were installed throughout the depot. A total of 4,038 metres of track and 6,077 metres of overhead lines were laid.
“The completion of the modernisation of the Hloubětín depot comes at just the right time. We are expanding Prague’s tram network at a rapid pace. Building permits have already been issued for the new Počernická, Malovanka–Strahov, Olšanská–Habrová, Libuš–Nové Dvory, and Muzeum lines. We are also acquiring new, modern 52T trams and naturally need a place to accommodate them. The new Hloubětín depot will further strengthen our position as one of the world’s best public transport systems,” said Zdeněk Hřib, Deputy Mayor of Prague for Transport and Chairman of the DPP Supervisory Board.
With the opening of the new Hloubětín depot, the organisation of tram dispatching and collection will be adjusted. From Saturday morning, DPP will operate most services on lines 7, 8, 12, 17, and 31 from Hloubětín.
