The Prague Metro is Beautiful
Living in a place, it’s easy to let the unique or beautiful elements of it pass you by. That’s one of the great things about visiting somewhere new. I'd never been to Prague before and wasn’t expecting to fall in love with the city's transport. Like many European destinations, it has wide ranging and affordable public transport; buses, trams trains and an underground metro system.
Coming from Glasgow, I feel an affinity for the Prague metro. Not that the humble Glasgow Subway can compete in any way. The Prague metro (Pražské metro) isn’t as small as that but when compared to London or Berlin’s underfoot transport, it has a cross-city simplicity that is easy to get your head around as a tourist.
The Prague metro was conceived in the late 18th century but didn’t begin construction until the 1960s under communism, when travel in the city was under severe strain. The motorcar boomed but the roads didn’t keep up. There are three lines (A,B,C) with plans for a fourth (D) in the works. The triangle formation that spreads out across 60+ stations are the arteries of the city.
When you first take that steep escalator deep underground (the deepest station is Náměstí Míru 52 metres under Bazilika sv. Ludmily), you are transported to a vast underground system of platforms, lifts, tracks and trains. The first thing that struck me was the scale of it - it’s huge. Not just long, but tall and wide, a hallmark of communist architecture.
The other thing to surprise me was the brutalist beauty of it. The walls of each station are lined with interesting designs that at first seem like a tribute to Doctor Who. Tunnel walls are clad with aluminium mouldings in convex and concave shapes, locally called "breasts" and "anti-breasts". It was designed by the chief architect of the Prague metro, Jaroslav Otruba.
Inspired by pop art, artist Jiří Rathouský came up with the distinguishing colours for each of the individual stations. Colours are used to represent significant historical locations found on different lines. For example, the gold of the Hradčanská station symbolises the royal history of Prague Castle 40 metres above.
The design also serves a more practical function. The half-cylindrical shape acts as acoustic cladding dampening the sound of cars as they rattle downhill into stations. Yes, downhill. In the event of a power outage the track in and out of most stations is sloped to allow trains already in motion to easily make it to the next station and allow passengers to disembark.
The brilliant green of Malostranská represents the surrounding royal gardens.
The blood red of Staroměstská refers to the murders of the 27 Czech noblemen in the Estates Uprising of 1621.
The utilitarian brown of the Muzeum station signifies the fortified walls that once stood here.
The tranquil blue at Náměstí Míru (Peace Square) is said to be the colour of peace.
The rich reddish-purple of Flora is meant to echo the vineyards of Vinohrady.
