The Ministry of Transport invited three participants of the competitive dialogue to submit their bids for the project of construction and operation of the 32-kilometer D4 motorway in the PPP régime. This is a follow-up step to the four rounds of competitive dialogue that took place between April 2019 and January 2020. The completion of the motorway is expected to start at the end of year 2020, beginning of 2021, and is expected to be operational by the end of 2023.
Among motorways in the Czech Republic, the D11 motorway is under construction to the largest extent. Currently, 22.4 kilometres are being built between Hradec Králové, Smiřice and Jaroměř. The next section of the motorway is expected to be opened to drivers in December 2021, the entire motorway to Poland should be completed by 2026. The Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said this when he was visiting the Hradec Králové Region with the Minister of Transport Karel Havlíček.
Workers and machines are gradually returning to the Brno D1 motorway after the winter break. Preparatory work at the 21st kilometre near the exit to Benešov will begin on Saturday, 22 February. In the night from Saturday, 29 February, to Sunday, 1 March, two highway overpasses near Humpolec will be demolished. Work on other sections will start in March and April, in total work will be carried out on up to 71 kilometres of the motorway between Mirošovice and Kývalka.
The Committee of the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure (SFDI) has approved the change in the total amount of resources for the Railway Administration for 2020. This represents an increase in the total amount of CZK 4.2 billion, so the original amount of CZK 39.2 billion increased to CZK 43.4 billion.
In connection with the storm Sabine, which hit most of the territory of the Czech Republic earlier this week, the Railway Administration recorded a total of 296 events, of which 192 resulted in the interruption of traffic. In the vast majority of cases, traffic was stopped due to trees which fell on the track. Good news is that only in eight cases the train hit a tree. The total damage amounted to almost nine million crowns.
On Monday 10 February 2020 at 5:03 local time the Solar Orbiter spacecraft of the European Space Agency (ESA), which the Czech Republic significantly helped to prepare, will be launched into space from Florida's Cape Canaveral. Its task will be to study the Sun in a complex way, especially the solar magnetism, solar wind and the formation of high-energy particles. The spacecraft will also bring the very first view of both solar poles. New insights obtained from the measurements of the Solar Orbiter will help to better understand the Sun and its behaviour, which will enable to predict solar activity in a better way in the future and thus protect satellite systems as well as important ground infrastructures (energy networks, aviation, etc.) from the negative effects of currents and emission of high-energy particles coming from the Sun.