Bratislava mayor Matúš Vallo (c) during a control day on the Petržalka tram track construction site on February 8, 2024 in Bratislava. (source: TASR)
Many in Bratislava are still asking the same question: Will the new 3.9-kilometre tram track under construction in Petržalka, the most populous Bratislava borough, be finished on time?
The city’s mayor Matúš Vallo is sceptical about the date.
“It’s no secret that the pace of construction is not what I would like it to be. For weeks I’ve been trying to change that,” the mayor said on Thursday, February 8.
Today, the tramway ends at the Jungmannova stop. It should continue from here up to Janíkov Dvor, adding seven more stops to this tram line. The first tram should be driving people to Janíkov Dvor this autumn.
“My confidence that it will actually work out is low at this moment,” Vallo admitted.
Track completion in 2024 questioned
He’s not the only one. Several members of the city’s transport commission don’t believe that the tram track will be completed by the end of this year. “I dare say that the entire project won’t be completed even by the end of the mayor’s second term,” said the commission’s deputy chair Martin Winkler. The track, some say, won’t be finished even in early 2025.
The construction of the €70-million extended tram track began in November 2021. The track was supposed to have been completed in 2023. However, the first problems began to appear in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine and the price of building materials soared.
Bratislava councillor Ján Karman thinks the fact that the city cannot guarantee the deadline is dangerous, suggesting that the city has no full control over the project.
On Thursday, the mayor said that work on the tram track has sped up, but it’s not enough for the city. Although the city isn’t satisfied with the pace, it hasn’t fined the contractor, NS MHD Petržalka (Aldesa Construcciones Polska and Aldesa Construcciones). Vallo doesn’t want to pressure the contractor to the extent that they will decide to quit.
“Višňové Tunnel [the longest Slovak tunnel, which has been under construction since 2015 and still hasn’t been finished] is my nightmare. I don’t want Bratislava to have its own Višňové,” he said.
For this reason, the prices of building materials are adjusted every three months and the contractor can continue working on the tram track. As for the controversial tunnel, the state had to find new suppliers due to missing deadlines and increasing costs after five years. However, the problems haven’t vanished to date.
Unexpected surprises and the Chinese ambassador
The mayor announced on Thursday that he would meet with the Chinese ambassador to Slovakia to pressure the contractor, the Sme daily writes. The Chinese state firm China Railways is the majority owner of the Spanish firm participating in the construction of the tram track. Vallo also plans to meet with the CEO of the Spanish firm.
In recent weeks, the city, in part, blamed the weather for the slowdown of construction work, which some called a “weak argument”. Vallo, nevertheless, also pointed to other “presents”.
A number of unexploded shells were found near the anti-tank wall from the Second World War on Jantárová Street, he said. Near the wall, a landfill from the 1970s, which was evaluated as an environmental burden, was also uncovered. The work will stop here until the city removes the obstacle.
“Our effort and our priority is for the tram to Petržalka to run as soon as possible,” Vallo concluded.
