The Czech Republic is not yet prepared for efficient construction of the high-speed rail network
PRESS RELEASE ON AUDIT NO 25/09 – 27 April 2026
The Czech Republic is not yet equipped to effectively build the high-speed rail network it plans to complete around 2050. The necessary conditions for the construction of the network have not yet been established by the government, nor have the funding sources been identified. Moreover, the negotiations with neighbouring countries regarding the interconnection of high-speed rails have not yet been concluded. The expected benefits have not been fully demonstrated either, and the projected cost savings may be significantly lower than was predicted or may not prove to be true at all. This is the result of an audit by the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) focused on funds allocated for the preparation of high-speed railways in the Czech Republic.
The minimum investment costs for the construction of the high-speed rail network are estimated at CZK 737 billion. As of 30 June 2025, the Railway Administration (Správa železnic) had already spent CZK 5.6 billion on preparations for the construction. Although the Railway Administration is unable to finance the construction of high-speed railways from its own resources, no funding sources had been identified by the time the SAO audit concluded, i.e., as of last October. The Railway Administration, together with the Ministry of Transport, expects that the construction will be financed, among other sources, from the CEF – Connecting Europe Facility – as well as from a loan from the European Investment Bank and through the involvement of PPP projects (public-private partnerships). However, though financial participation of the state is essential for these projects, it has not yet been secured. Meanwhile in France, for example, the state’s financial participation in railway PPP projects amounted to 50% of construction costs.
Among others, the benefits of building a network of high-speed rail connections are expected to include time savings, regional development, and cost savings for freight carriers and road infrastructure. According to the SAO, there is a significant risk that these benefits will not come to fruition. For example, to achieve time savings, it is necessary to build comprehensive routes and modernise stations (railway hubs). However, the Prague railway hub, for instance, is not scheduled for modernisation until 2047, while the Prague–Brno–Břeclav high-speed line is set to be operational as early as 2036. Furthermore, the anticipated regional development is, in some sections, in direct conflict with the expected time savings. In fact, regional development is contingent on stops and exits along the track. A report by the European Court of Auditors, which audited the European high-speed rail network in 2018, states, inter alia, that each station on a high-speed railway line extends the total travel time by an average of 4 to 12 minutes.
Furthermore, it is expected that the construction of high-speed rail will free up capacity for freight transport, prompting carriers to shift from road to rail. However, carriers’ willingness to switch from road to rail is limited by the fact that rail freight transport is less reliable and less flexible than road transport, and carriers pay high fees for using the rail infrastructure.
The concept of high-speed rail network in the Czech Republic anticipates connections to neighbouring countries. At the time of the SAO’s audit, however, not a single international agreement on a new cross-border connection was in force and the negotiations with neighbouring countries have not yet been concluded. Although some sections within the Czech Republic are designed for operating speeds of up to 320 km/h, there is a risk that this speed will not be utilised by carriers for international connections since neighbouring countries are considering connecting to the Czech Republic at speeds of up to 250 km/h.
The Ministry of Transport, specifically the Railway Administration, had not fulfilled the task assigned by the government by the time the audit was completed, as they failed to ensure territorial protection for certain structures by not including some of the high-speed lines in the Czech Republic’s Spatial Development plan.
The SAO conducted an audit of 15 public contracts focused on the preparation of high-speed railway network with a total value of CZK 2.5 billion. In some of these cases, it found a significant increase in the tendered prices, by as much as 126%. The reason is an amendment to the Public Procurement Act adopted in 2023, which abolished the 30% limit on permissible increases in the tendered price for above-threshold sectoral contracts. According to the SAO, this change has made the public procurement process for the above-threshold sectoral contracts a mere formality. The amendment allows for the inflation of prices resulting from competitive bidding, thereby distorting the market for sectoral public contracts. Consequently, this creates conditions for uneconomical expenditure of public funds.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office