The relocation of the main train station to the river has been debated in Brno for over 90 years

Brno/Prague - Overview of information about the plans to relocate the main train station in Brno (the South Bohemian Region has confirmed the zoning decision necessary for the reconstruction of the Brno railway junction):

- The current Brno main train station has been practically in the same location near the center since the railway began operations, namely since 1839. Along with the station in Břeclav, it was the first on the territory of present-day Czech Republic. However, nothing has survived from the original building, as it was situated perpendicular to the tracks that ended here. The second building, which was constructed in the first half of the 1840s, is now part of the southeast wing. With the development of railway transportation in the following decades, the station also expanded, taking on its current Art Nouveau form during the reconstruction from 1902 to 1905.

- The insufficient capacity of the station, into which additional lines gradually led, began to be addressed already in the 1920s. In the urban planning competition for a new vision of Brno in 1927, the proposal that included building a station about 500 meters further south, by the northern bank of the Svratka River, placed highest. At the same time, comprehensive reconstruction of the somewhat chaotically developed Brno railway junction began to be considered, and an architectural competition was announced, which planned the construction of a new passenger and freight station south of the Svratka River.

- Another competition related to the appearance of Brno in 1933 presented four options for the station's solution; in addition to expanding the original, three options for a new location emerged. Among them was already a variant proposing to build a new station nearly a kilometer further south, in the area of the so-called Lower or Rosice station. In the first decades of railway operation, this station was also used by passengers traveling on the line to Zastávka u Brna, but since the end of the 1870s it has primarily served freight transport, with few exceptions.

- However, with the impending war, plans for the reconstruction of the Brno railway network were set aside. New sections were indeed built (particularly the double-track express line running through Tišnov to Havlíčkův Brod), but ideas for a new station went quiet for more than 20 years. A competition announced by the city hall in 1966 again considered that the station would be built on the site of the Lower Station. The legacy of these plans is the current bus station at Zvonařka, the first part of which opened in 1978.

- After November 1989, discussions about the railway junction in Brno resumed, with the considered variants practically the same as in the mid-1930s. That is, either the reconstruction of the current station and possible expansion in its immediate vicinity, or the relocation of the station to the south - either to the site of the Lower Station or slightly further north and closer to the center. In both cases, the station would connect to the already existing lines and would be built on undeveloped parcels. Ultimately, work began on the variant at the location of the Rosice station.

- Plans to move the station a kilometer towards the river have become one of the main political issues in Brno over the past quarter-century. There were even two local referendums held on this matter, initiated by opponents of the move. However, neither referendum reached the required number of voters; in 2004, the turnout was about 25 percent, and in October 2016 it was roughly 1 percent less. Neither referendum was thus binding, although over four-fifths of participants voted to keep the station in the center each time.

- Opponents of the move, who advocate building near Petrov close to the current station, point out, for example, that the new station will have poorer connections to public transportation. The original station is also directly linked to the historical center. According to the study by the Railway Infrastructure Administration, the displaced variant has, among other advantages, greater readiness and the possibility of construction being started about several years earlier. Additionally, the new station would contribute to the development of an area that has so far been overlooked, according to supporters of the move.

- This year, the possibility of constructing a new Brno station has come closer. First, in January, the South Moravian Region supported the move of the main station to the Svratka, the municipal council of the Brno-Center district expressed support for the same variant in mid-February, and then Brno city deputies also endorsed the station's relocation. In March, the management committee of the Brno Railway Junction established by the Minister of Transport also expressed support for the move. Now, the South Bohemian Regional Office, which made the decision due to perceived bias from the Brno city hall, confirmed the zoning decision necessary for the reconstruction of the Brno railway junction,

- The Central Commission of the Ministry of Transport recommended to the government in May that the Lower Station site be designated for the construction of the new station. However, it selected a subvariant without an underground railway, different from what Brno and the region preferred. In July, the government acknowledged the Ministry of Transport's materials on the relocation, but the material does not include plans for an underground railway similar to a metro, which is a point of contention for the Brno city council. The relocation of the station is expected to cost over 40 billion crowns, with an additional two billion earmarked for urban infrastructure.