<div>Train station closures in Brno will be extended, historic signal boxes will remain.</div>

Brno - The annual closure of Brno's main train station will be extended by several weeks, likely until the beginning of 2020. The Railway Infrastructure Administration (SŽDC) has decided, at the request of heritage conservationists, to preserve both historical signal boxes from the late 19th century, but it must change the project for the modernization of the signaling equipment. The signal boxes will be preserved until a use can be found for them, said SŽDC spokesperson Kateřina Šubová to ČTK.

The signal boxes, which are small buildings made of red brick, from which an employee of SŽDC used to switch the points until December, are not covered by heritage protection. This exemption also applies to the viaducts and the Malá Amerika warehouse, which form a whole with the signal boxes. However, an administrative procedure has been underway for several years regarding them, and the law currently regards them as historical sites.

According to heritage conservationists, the signal boxes are historically valuable and already unique in Central Europe. Nevertheless, no objections were raised during the preparation of the construction plans concerning the demolition of the signal boxes. The closure was originally set to last a year until the change in the schedule this December, and is now likely to conclude in the first months of 2020.

"We will seek new uses for the signal boxes. However, the search is complicated by the fact that they are located in close proximity to the tracks and currently do not have public access. The situation will significantly simplify after the operation at the current station ends and the trains move to the new station," said Šubová.

When construction of the new station will begin, let alone when it will become operational, is not yet clear.