Transport in the Czech Republic

Transport in the Czech Republic relies on several main modes, including

Railways

The Czech Republic has a total railway length of 9,435 kilometres (5,863 mi) which makes it a country with the second highest rail density in the world.

The Czech Republic has, in total, 55,653 km (34,581 mi)^[2] of roads. It has 1,247 km (775 mi)^[3] of motorways. In the 1980s and 1990s there was a significant increase in passenger transport on the roads in the Czech Republic, which was associated with a sharp increase in the accident rate. Between 2007 and 2013, the death rate fell in every year, with a record low of 583 deaths in 2013, compared with the 1994 high of 1,473 casualties.^[4] Despite this however, the fatality rate per head of population is moderately high, comparable to the United States.^[2]

Highways

There are 2 main categories of roads forming the main network: Motorways and Highways. These roads are managed by the state-owned Directorate of Highways and Motorways of the Czech Republic – ŘSD, established in 1997. Among the first modern motorways in the Czech Republic was the motorway from Prague to the Slovak border through Brno whose construction was started on May 2, 1939.

Motorways are dual carriageways with tolls and a speed limit of 130 km/h. Highways can be single and dual carriageway with a speed limit of 90 km/h (dual carriageways are commonly signposted as Roads for motorcars with a speed limit of 110 km/h).

ŘSD currently manages and maintains 1,369 km of motorways (dálnice).^[3]

Waterways

The Vltava is the country's longest river, at 430 km. 358 km of the Elbe (Labe), which totals 1154 km, is also present in the country. An artificial waterway, nowadays used for recreation, is the Baťa Canal.

Ports and harbors

Děčín, Mělník, Prague, Ústí nad Labem, Moldauhafen in Hamburg (no longer operational, will be handed over to Germany in 2028)

Airports