The first trains for the Prague Metro in 1974 came from the Soviet Union and had longitudinal seating, as in Moscow. Individual Soviet trains ran after modifications until 2009.
Now it is as you describe.
It is quite possible that the current seating arrangement has political roots. After the overthrow of the pro-Soviet government in 1989, many things in our country were done in exactly the opposite way to how they had been done before, in order to express a break with pseudo-communism.
Oh interesting, that's why I was surprised, expected the Moscow layout.
It is quite possible that the current seating arrangement has political roots. After the overthrow of the pro-Soviet government in 1989, many things in our country were done in exactly the opposite way to how they had been done before, in order to express a break with pseudo-communism.