The referendum about the station is set to take place in Brno with the regional elections

Brno - The Brno city councilors decided today that a referendum on the location of the new Brno train station will take place in the autumn of 2016 together with the regional elections. This is a welcoming step for the civic alliance Referendum 2014, which has been striving for a public vote. The former deputy mayor Robert Kotzian, now the chairman of the Brno+ association, claims, however, that this is an illegal procedure and will seek to overturn the decision. According to him, it will block the redevelopment process of the Brno railway hub for two years, he told ČTK.
The referendum law states that the council must announce the date within 90 days after it takes place or take into account the proposal of the organizing committee. The committee suggested the date together with the municipal elections in October. Due to the proposal being flawed, this date has lapsed. According to a legal analysis commissioned by Kotzian while he was still deputy mayor, the proposal cannot be retroactively amended. Representatives of the new coalition, on the other hand, claim that the proposal can indeed be amended this way. "If someone challenges the date in court, we will at least know the court’s position," said deputy mayor Matěj Hollan (Žít Brno).
Activists supported by the Green Party are advocating for the date to coincide with the regional elections in two years due to the required participation. This must reach at least 35% of eligible voters; otherwise, the outcome of the referendum is non-binding.
The law also states that city authorities may not decide on the matter being referred to in the referendum from the announcement of the referendum to the declaration of results. According to Kotzian, this effectively blocks the modernization process of the railway hub, although it is unclear what can and cannot be considered as a decision by the city on this issue. "Now, however, the Railway Administration (SŽDC) is starting a feasibility study for both variants, and the city has initiated traffic and spatial studies. In two years, the situation will be diametrically different from the current one, and it is uncertain whether the same people would sign the petition again," Kotzian noted. The feasibility study is expected to be completed by mid-2016.
The location of the new station has been discussed in Brno for several years, with two options at play. The first, known as the river option, is about 800 meters south of the current station, while the second option involves moving the station below Petrov to the area of Malá Amerika. Studies commissioned by SŽDC for both options have demonstrated that the station can be built in both configurations. The feasibility study is now going into even greater detail. Currently, costs in both cases are discussed to be around 20 billion crowns.
It is evident that the current station no longer meets capacity requirements during peak hours, and it is not possible to add more connections.