Trams back in Hloubětín! DPP opens new depot

21. 03. 2025

On Friday, 21 March 2025, the Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) solemnly launched the trial operation of the new Hloubětín depot. The construction of the main part of the depot, including a new hall for parking and repairing trams, reconstruction and modernisation of most of the area, began in September 2022. The construction was carried out by an association of companies VCES and Chládek a Tintěra, Pardubice. The total costs are almost 1.9 billion Czech crowns excluding VAT. The amount also includes previous stages, i.e. project preparation, demolition work including removal of rubble and construction of the energy centre. Funding was provided exclusively from the budget of the Capital City of Prague.

Depot for new Škoda 52T trams

The main part of the Hloubětín depot construction is a new hall with 22 tracks. It is divided into a parking hall (tracks 1-17) with a capacity of up to 61 articulated trams up to 32 meters long (i.e. corresponding to the Škoda 15T type or currently produced Škoda 52T) and a maintenance hall (tracks 18-22) with six stations and a capacity of up to 12 articulated vehicles. The maintenance hall is equipped with the most modern technology for the maintenance of low-floor trams, including footbridges, jacks and a box for painting tram shell components. At the same time as the construction of the new hall, the outdoor track harp was repaired and supplemented, and a new overhead line was built throughout the depot. A total of 4,038 meters of tracks and 6,077 meters of overhead line were laid.

Hloubětín depot hall for tram parking and maintenance.
Photo: DPP – Petr Hejna

Photovoltaic panels, heat pumps and rainwater

The roof of the new hall is fitted with photovoltaic panels with the possibility of further expansion. The electricity generated in them will cover the electricity consumption needed for the depot's own operation. Solar panels are installed on the southern and eastern facades to provide hot air heating of the maintenance hall. A cascade of heat pumps will serve as the main heating for the hall and other buildings, and the air conditioning is equipped with recuperation units. DPP will use rainwater to wash trams in Hloubětín, which will be collected in a newly built retention tank with a volume of 310 m3. The so-called grey water from washbasins and shower cubicles will then be used to flush toilets. Wastewater from the washing line will be recycled in the local wastewater treatment plant.

Modern premises not just for trams

In addition to the new hall, DPP built other buildings in the Hloubětín depot area for the Upper Building and for DPP Intra-Company Transport, which will have service facilities for trucks and special vehicles in Hloubětín. These are multi-storey buildings with garages, workshops, warehouses, office spaces and facilities for both DPP operations. The original day treatment hall (now tracks 23 and 24) has also undergone modernisation, of which only the skeleton remains. It received not only a new facade, but also complete interior equipment, including tracks, footbridges and a modern car wash that will be able to use rainwater. This investment project also included the relocation of utility networks, the construction of a new sewerage system, a new technological collector connecting the energy centre and the hall, and a number of extensive landscaping projects with a total area of 8,275 m2. A 150-metre-long and 4.5-metre-high retaining wall was built to the north above the hall itself. The contractors built the second wall, which serves to secure Kolbenova Street itself, on the northern edge of the Hloubětín depot area. In addition, all roads, parking lots and parking areas in the depot area with a total area of 27,500 m2 were rebuilt. Park and garden improvements covered a total area of 6,365 m2, and the contractors planted 17 trees and 3,214 shrubs and flowers.