On 14 April 2011 Grandi Stazioni, a company owned by Ferrovie dello Stato with Eurostazioni as the main shareholder, inaugurated Prague’s refurbished Central Station through its established Czech company Grandi Stazioni Česká republika, s.r.o. in the presence of Mr Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Italian Republic, and Mr Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic.

Mr Mauro Moretti, CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato Group, Petr Zaluda, Chairman and General Manager of Czech Railways (CD) and Fabio Battaggia, CEO of Grandi Stazioni, attended the inauguration ceremony. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director-General, also participated in this ceremony.
Prague Central Station, built at the beginning of the last century in the Liberty Style and featuring the New Hall, an outstanding example of 1970s Czech architecture, is one of the main stations in Eastern Europe with 700 trains per day and 35 million passengers per year.

The 30,000 square metres have been upgraded completely: 18 new vertical and automated connections (escalators, travelators, lifts); 10,000 square metres dedicated to commercial areas with more than 60 shops selling the most important Czech and international brands and a new and modern 2,500 square metre ticketing office.

Jean-Pierre Loubinoux was particularly pleased at the development of this railway station, directly connected with discussions that were organised around this theme (railway stations of the future) during the International Conference “Next Station”, held in Brussels in March.