Study: The renovation of the train station in downtown Brno would cost five billion less

Brno - According to a study commissioned by opponents of the station's relocation, the reconstruction of Brno's main train station could cost only 16 billion crowns instead of the planned 21 billion. The condition is that the current location of the station in the city center is preserved. The material was presented to journalists today by the civic coalition Station in the Center. The study shows that the capacity and technical parameters, for which the city hall decided to relocate the station, can also be met by the station in its current location, said Martin Ander, director of Hnutí Duha, to ČTK today.
    According to Ander, the residents of Brno will decide where the main station will ultimately be located in the upcoming municipal elections. The reconstruction of the hub for several tens of billions of crowns has not yet started, and it is also unclear whether the city will receive subsidies from European funds for it. The first phase of the railway hub reconstruction, the construction of a depot station, is currently already two years behind schedule.
    The coalition's proposal includes the construction of a new check-in hall 100 meters from the current historic building of the station, between which the main post office building should be situated. Right next to it, there should be a new bus terminal and an underground parking lot for 400 cars. "The modernized station will thus become a unique transfer hub between trains, buses, and most lines of public transport," believes Ander.
    The city leadership advocates relocating the main station about 800 meters to the south. The current form of the hub began to take shape in the first half of the 19th century and is said by councilors to block the city's development. "The station moved closer to the Vaňkovka shopping center will actually be closer for people than its current location, and people will be able to more easily transfer to the train from the nearby Zvonařka bus station," said councilor Barbora Javorová to ČTK today. According to another supporter of the station's relocation, former Minister of Transport Milan Šimonovský, it is primarily necessary to secure funding for the entire reconstruction project and to leave the discussions about the station's location for later. "The station cannot be built outside the center; it is only about what we consider to be the center," he told ČTK today.
    According to the city leadership, the current location of the station in the city center does not meet the technical conditions for Brno's future connection to modern high-speed train routes. Coalition members disagree with this and refer to expert opinions on which their study is based. According to one of them, prepared by the firm Chládek & Tintěra from Pardubice, the station's location in the city center meets all necessary technical standards and does not hinder future operations of high-speed trains. They argue that the central station option will actually help the development of the southern part of the city, as it anticipates the diversion of the corridor for freight trains away from this zone. "The location of the station between the historic center and the rapidly developing modern zone of the city is ideal from an urbanistic point of view. The station has no front or back and no main entrance; it is fully traversable," architect Ivan Lejčar, who developed the urbanistic-architectural draft of the study, told ČTK today.
    A model of the territory of the city affected by the railway hub reconstruction, according to the city leadership's project, has been displayed in the vestibule of the Moravian Land Library in Brno. Starting today, the residents of Brno can view the coalition's study Station in the Center at an information booth at Malinovského náměstí. Coalition members also want to discuss the station in the city center option with the authors of the competing project promoted by the Brno city hall and with the public.