Železniční zářez, Natural monument in Hlubočepy, Czech Republic.

The Železniční zářez is a natural monument in Prague-Hlubočepy where the railway to Beroun cuts through a rock face. Its western wall exposes the boundary between the Choteč and Srbsko formations of the Middle Devonian, with dark limestones, layered shales and fossil-bearing beds visible in sequence.

This rock outcrop was created during construction of the railway from Prague to Rudná u Berouna in 1873, which cut through layers of shale and limestone. The railway engineering exposed geological layers that had been buried underground, revealing the boundary between different periods of rock formation.

The monument lies at the Hlubočepy junction where line 173 to Beroun runs through the cut and line 122, the so-called Prague Semmering, crosses above it on the Hlubočepy viaduct. The name refers simply to the railway cutting itself, and the site is visited today as a geological walk stop on the way to the Barrandov rocks.

A green-marked hiking trail connects this site to public transport, starting near the Řeporyjské náměstí bus stop and finishing at Hlubočepy tram station. The route is easy to follow and takes visitors through the local landscape.

The dark shales of the Srbsko formation at the western wall yield macroscopic plant remains, and the site is a paleontological type locality for Protopteridium hostinense, one of the most abundant Devonian fossils in the Czech Republic. The profile was uncovered during railway construction in the second half of the 19th century.