Transport Year 2023: record road and motorway construction work, record transport budget3/1/2023|Press releasesTransport minister Martin Kupka presented the priorities of the Ministry for this year. Currently, a record of 241.3 kilometres of motorways and Category I roads are under construction and most of them shall open in 2023 and 2024. We are also simplifying communication with the authorities and access to information in the transport area, we will add other functions to the Transport Portal, we have proposed to make the points system clearer and are preparing the cancellation of the big car paper from the beginning of 2024. "The volume of work of progress on the domestic motorway and road network will hit a new record this yea: more than 240 km is a good investment in the future and the development of the country. All this will support this year's record transport budget of CZK 150.9 billion. Of that, CZK 65.5 billion is prepared for ŘSD, the roads and motorway operator. Thanks to the EIB loan, a record amount of more than CZK 70 billion will go into the development of Czech railways”, says transport minister Martin Kupka. Infrastructure construction – roads The completion of the D35 motorway as an alternative link between Bohemia and Moravia will continue, we will start with further sections of the D6 motorway in Karlovy Vary and build another part of the D55 motorway near Olomouc. "In the two-year period we will open long sections of new motorways such as the 32 kilometres of the D4 motorway in Písek, we will get closer to the Austrian border with the D3 motorway in South Bohemia, which will be extended by more than 28 kilometres and, in Moravia, the D55 motorway near Staré Město will be now 21 kilometres longer," says the transport minister about the construction of new motorway sections. The road network will also be expanded over the next two years with new category I roads such as the four sections of the city ring road in Brno, the bypass of Jaroměř, Karviná, Mošnov, Opava, Bludov or the 5.4 kilometre long four-lane road between Třanovice and Nebory near Třinec, which will open in its entirety next year. A total of 218.1 kilometres of new roads (133.5 kilometres of motorways and 84.6 kilometres of category I roads). Construction preparation is also in full swing. As an example let me mention the D35; a tender for the contractor is currently under way for 4 sections: Vysoké Mýto – Džbánov, Janov – Opatovec, Sadová – Hořice and Homole tunnel. For the other 2 sections, ŘSD has applied for building permits. So we are moving closer to Mohelnice. Infrastructure construction – railways At the beginning of January the modernisation of the railway to Václav Havel Airport will start on the Praha-Bubny – Výstaviště section. The Praha-Bubny station will be modernised, the line will be double-tracked for approximately 1.3 kilometres, electrified and a Praha-Výstaviště stop built. In 2023 we expect the launch of tenders for the construction of Praha-Ruzyně – Kladno and the modernisation of Prague Masarykovo nádraží station. Správa železnic is also preparing for the start of the modernisation of the Prague-Smíchov station and a tender for the double-tracking of the Branický bridge will take place. A major reconstruction will also begin in Brno: a tender for the modernisation of Brno-Královo Pole station will be started. The project includes the construction of a new station building. The actual implementation should then start in 2024. The builders should also start focusing on the modernisation of another part of the third corridor within the optimisation of the Karlštejn – Beroun section. Details can be found in the interactive map on the Správa železnic website. The preparation of high-speed lines and the installation of the European Train Control System (ETCS) on the network of Správa železnic will continue. Work is in progress on 417 km of tracks, with over 3 200 km of tracks in the pipeline. A total of CZK 2.4 billion will go to ETCS in 2023. Water transport The construction of docks for recreational boats continues, especially on the Elbe river: for the 2023 summer season a total of 12 new docks for small recreational vessels and passenger boats will be in operation on the Elbe (Ústí nad Labem-Brná, Litoměřice, Roudnice nad Labem, Štětí, Čelákovice, Nymburk, Poděbrady and Kolín) and an extended sock in Strážnice on the Baťa Canal. Another 5 marinas for small vessels and passenger ships on the Elbe and Vltava rivers should be completed by the end of 2023 (Mělník, Brandýs nad Labem, Nymburk, Davle). In 2023 Ředitelství vodních cest (the waterways operator) expects to start work on the extension of the Baťa Canal to Hodonín near Rohatec and the construction of about 4 more recreational docks on the Vltava and Elbe rivers. The points system The Ministry of Transport is proposing to make the points system clearer and easier to understand. The basic principle of the new points system is simple: offences leading to serious accidents will be punished more severely, while less serious offences should only be dealt with by financial penalties and not by a change in the points account. The simplification guideline provides for penalties of two, four and six points. For the most serious traffic offences the “two-and-enough” rule will apply, because the total penalty points is twelve. The “three-and-enough” system will apply to for four-point offences. Legislation Changes to vehicle registration will come into force from 1 March. The validity of the registration check will be extended from 30 days to 1 year (with no limit on the number of operations) and it will no longer be necessary to submit a report of the check when registering the vehicle or when changing the owner or operator. The information systems of the ministry already transfer information about the registration check digitally between each other. A registration check will also not be necessary when the operator of the vehicle changes ownership, typically after the end of the lease of the vehicle, i.e. when the existing operator is to be registered as the new owner. Starting in March, there is also an option to reserve a registration plate for one month (for CZK 100) before registering the vehicle, which will be used especially by road hauliers when arranging all the formalities related with the registration of a new truck in their fleets (road toll, etc.). They will save time, because the truck is being prepared for sale and formal preparations can be made to get it on the road. As of 1 September, it will be possible to register historic vehicles not only in the place of residence but also at the 14 regional headquarters and in Kolín. The inspection of the technical condition of the vehicles will be carried out at the Technical Inspection Stations (STK) and the validity will be extended from 2 to 5 years. On 1 on January 2024 the big car paper will be cancelled. This means drivers only need one document instead of two when they visit the office. The most common data will be on the one document. Other technical information will be made available electronically. Digitalisation In 2023 it is a priority for us to make the Transport Portal available to legal entities, enable the payment of administrative fees to individual municipal authorities of municipalities with extended powers and launch the front end – the public part – of the Portal. In addition to the above, we are of course also planning the gradual deployment of other services including, for example, the Driver Card statement, notification of changes to the points account, new applications in the vessel and vehicle agendas, etc. Other information On 2-6 October 2023 Prague will host the PIARC World Road Congress, the largest international event for infrastructure and innovation in road transport that can be held in the Czech Republic.