Two and a Half Metres

At the Krč–Lhotka border they have opened two and a half metres of access tunnel —

not the running line, not the station, the temporary hole that lets them dig the rest.

A ventilation shaft already two-thirds of thirty-four metres south of the Lidl on V Štíhlách. The machines for the long tunnels still on order for next year. Trains named for 2032.

Above, Branická waits for its temporary road. Above, the buses still transfer. The street keeps its traffic. The hole keeps its spoil.

What opened today takes rock out, not passengers in.