The Office of the City Architect recommends moving the train station to the Svratka

Brno - The Office of the Architect of the City of Brno (KAMB) recommends to the city leadership to relocate the new train station to the site of today's freight station instead of keeping the station in the center. It highlights the possibility of building the station earlier, cheaper, and without disruptions and construction sites in the center of Brno, said Michal Sedláček, director of KAMB, at a press conference today. A new station in Brno is necessary because the current one is at capacity, which cannot be increased. The city will conduct a public opinion survey of a sample of 1,000 residents to ascertain the views of people living in Brno.

The investor for the construction will be the state, with Brno having a recommending voice like the South Moravian Region. "However, we will not be able to provide our opinion by the end of January as we announced, but we will probably hold an extraordinary council meeting at the end of February," said Mayor Petr Vokřál (ANO).

The relocated station can be built sooner because this option had been prepared for decades, and the station in the center, which would be slightly shifted southeast of the current one, is not even in the zoning plan. According to Sedláček, it is realistic to start building the central station only in 2028. At the same time, it will be built effectively on a green field, as only freight trains pass through the lower station. It could be cheaper, as KAMB claims, but it may not be, as confirmed by the feasibility study. According to the chosen sub-option, the cost of the relocated station will be 42 to 45 billion, while the station in the center would cost 42 to 56 billion without accounting for high-speed rail costs.

"If we want Brno to develop and not stagnate, we need to build a new station near Svratka. The current station is insufficient for trains or passengers, and its area is not expandable," said Sedláček.

He also mentioned that if the station is relocated, 38 hectares of land will be freed in the vicinity of the historic center. "The barrier that has hindered development in the southern part of the city will disappear. A modern attractive urban district will rise here, with apartments, job opportunities, and parks," Sedláček stated.

The disadvantage of the relocated station is the risk that the city infrastructure, that is, the provision of public transport to the new station, will not be completed in time. It will also be more expensive to build and will have higher operating costs. According to the study, there will also be fewer tram lines serving the relocated station, and more transfers will be needed, slightly prolonging the journey.

Sedláček plans to organize eight debates in various parts of Brno over the next few weeks. "I believe Brno now has a historic opportunity to finally build a new station, because over the last 100 years, something unfavorable always interfered before a definitive decision and construction. I also think that people were previously against the relocation of the station because they did not have enough information. We would like to change that and factually present the options that Brno has," said Sedláček.