The survey about the location of the train station in Brno did not change politicians' opinions

photo: www.zitbrno.cz

Brno - A public opinion poll that showed that for Brno residents the most acceptable new railway station is located in the center beneath Petrov, and they most strongly oppose its relocation to the freight lower station, did not change the opinions of the political parties represented in the leadership of Brno. This is despite the fact that the coalition agreement includes a sentence stating that the councilors will support the variant preferred by the public. The councilors are expected to vote on the variant likely on Tuesday at a regular council meeting, political party representatives told reporters today.

Support for the relocated station was expressed today by ANO and the Christian Democrats, who also want to maintain the current station for regional transport and connect it to the north-south rail diameter. However, the existence of two stations has not yet been included in the city and transport ministry plans. A study for the diameter should start being developed so that it could ideally be built together with the station. This is a railway line that will detach from the Tišnov line in the north of the city and serve the south with several stations in a manner similar to the metro. TOP 09 has long supported the relocation of the station, while the Greens, Žít Brno, and the Pirates are in favor of the variant in the center.

From a survey of a sample of 1,000 people, the results of which the councilors received from the Focus agency on Friday, it emerged that 64 percent of people find the Petrov variant acceptable, while the relocated station is acceptable for 49 percent. If people were asked to choose only one variant, even in that case, they expressed more support for the Petrov variant. Likewise, the relocated station has more opponents than Petrov.

According to Martin Ander (SZ) and Matěj Hollan (Žít Brno), the survey results are clear. They did not want to predict too much how the future of the coalition will look in the case of constant opinions. However, both admitted that they are prepared to terminate the coalition agreement and subsequently address its future in a so-called negotiation procedure.

Vokřál considers the interpretation by the Greens and Žít Brno to be a misinterpretation. "For me, it did not imply support for either variant. Half of the people know nothing about the variants, they decide based on feelings and that is not good. A large portion of people would like to keep the station where it is, even though a new station is needed," Vokřál said. However, he would like to maintain the coalition despite these discrepancies. "This coalition has achieved a lot and in my opinion, it would be a mistake to end it six months before the elections. However, it depends on each side how each of them approaches this," Vokřál said.

The councilors are expected to vote on the variant on Tuesday, and the council members will meet specifically on this topic on February 27. However, the final word will rest with the government. So far, the South Moravian Region and Minister of Transport Dan Ťok (ANO) have supported the relocation. Last week, among other things, he also published the results of his own research by the Association of Public Transport Passengers. He asked more than 600 people on trains around Brno, and they want the Petrov variant 78 percent of the time.

Those advocating for the relocation of the station mainly argue that it can be started sooner due to greater preparedness and alignment with the land use plan, which also means the possibility of at least partially financing the construction with European funds. They also argue about the simpler connection of high-speed lines.