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Little hope for dirty transit stations

As city officials pass the buck, metro and tram stops get worse

By Markéta Hulpachová
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
March 12th, 2008 issue

JAN PŘEROVSKÝ/THE PRAGUE POST
The Public Transit Company says it has 'other priorities' than fixing up deteriorating transport hubs such as the Opatov station in Prague 11.
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JAN PŘEROVSKÝ/THE PRAGUE POST
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'It's not just the metro stops - the entire state is deteriorating. There are other priorities than fixing up the public transportation stops.' Tomáš Rozhoň, clerk
'I've been commuting here for years, and it just gets worse and worse. Early in the morning, there are drug addicts here, bothering commuters - it's a safety issue.' Marta Kunstovná, textile worker
Perched amid the sprawling prefabricated housing developments on the city’s periphery, the Opatov metro and bus station in Prague 11 is reputably the most unaesthetic transit stop in Prague. Weathered fliers wilt from yellowing windows, and each wall is decorated with at least one rendering by a local graffiti artist. Nearby, a homeless man sleeps on a rusted bench. When walking through the kiosk-lined vestibule separating the metro entrance from the outside world, one is inevitably trailed by a faint scent of urine.
“This has to be the single most hideous metro stop in Prague,” complains one passer-by, a resident of the nearby Jižní Město neighborhood. “When it rains, the water from the bus stop upstairs leaks through the roof and into the [vestibule], so you get a dirty little shower on your way out.”
While they are not a ubiquitous problem, deteriorating metro, tram and bus stations are found in various corners of the city. But, as officials from a range of local administrations hesitate to take responsibility for these stations, unified plans for their rehabilitation stagnate.
According to Prague City Hall spokesman Rudolf Dobiáš, most of Prague’s public transport stations fall under the city’s Public Transit Company (DPP).
However, according to DPP spokesman Ondřej Pečený, the amount of property and structures the DPP owns in each station varies.
“Certain portions of the stations evidently belong to the DPP, but not all,” he said. “Actually, in most tram stops, we are only responsible for the sign with the timetables and the shelter.”
While acknowledging that the DPP is also responsible for infrastructural elements such as the train tracks, as well as ticket vending machines and the paid zones of the metro stations, “anything above-ground,” such as staircases and vestibules, is typically owned by the administrations of individual city districts, Pečený said.
“To be honest, we have other priorities than investing in repairing a station that someone finds unappealing,” he added. “Of course, people complain, but that’s nothing uncommon.”
Despite these reservations, the DPP does occasionally participate in rehabilitation projects spearheaded by individual districts.
Last year, for example, the DPP contributed 700,000 Kč ($42,527) for the construction of pigeon nets above the Opatov station. “Disease, parasites, various statues and building facades dirtied by pigeon excrements — those were just a few of the problems caused by the pigeon population,” said Prague 11 spokesman Josef Škvor. “The nets prevent the pigeons from flying into the [ceiling areas] and nesting there.”
The pigeon nets were only a small portion of Prague 11’s ongoing effort to revamp the Opatov station area. Since last year, the district invested thousands of crowns into various cleanup projects, including the repainting of the “snail,” a spiral ramp perpetually covered in graffiti, and a community cleanup of the grassy fields surrounding the station and the adjacent highway.
“We also shut down a suspect snack booth that was constantly surrounded by urinating homeless people,” Škvor said.
Although the company is currently discussing future collaboration with Prague 11 on similar projects, large-scale facelifts for deteriorating stations are currently not a part of the DPP’s agenda.
“At times, we invest into something that helps us in the long run — the pigeon nets saved us money on cleanup — but it’s unlikely we would start dealing with something based on aesthetics alone,” Pečený said.
Meanwhile, officials at City Hall and the Technical Administration of Communications (TSK) — the two other relevant city organs — distance themselves from the issue. While the TSK says the stations are not its responsibility, City Hall maintains they are not an acute issue.
“We are not aware of a widespread problem of deteriorating stations,” Dobiáš said. “As far as I know, there haven’t been any indicators that it was something that the DPP itself couldn’t deal with.”

Markéta Hulpachová can be reached at mhulpachova@praguepost.com


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