The Liberec Region wants to announce an architectural competition for a transport terminal this year

Liberec – The Liberec Region wants to announce an architectural competition for a transport terminal in the first half of this year, which is to be located at the Liberec railway station and will connect railway, bus, and city transport in the future. This was stated to journalists by Governor Martin Půta (Mayors for the Liberec Region) after a meeting of the Liberec Region and Liberec councilors. The region is collaborating with the city and the Railway Administration on the so-called Central Station project.

The vision to connect bus and train transport in a single area was presented by Liberec's city architect, now Deputy Mayor Jiří Janďourek (Mayors for the Liberec Region) along with other experts in 2012. However, the Liberec city hall rejected it four years later and continued to prepare the construction of a terminal at the current bus station. The plan was then handed over to the region by the city in 2019, which first had it revised and later completely withdrew from it.

"The architectural competition should not only address the future appearance and use of individual buildings at the Liberec main station, but also the creation of a bus terminal that will directly connect to it, the solution of the forecourt area, the Skloexport building and its use, as well as a solution for the P+R parking lot (park and ride) in direct proximity to the transport terminal, which should be established there in the future in connection with the fast railway project from Prague to Liberec," Půta stated.

According to the governor, discussions on the financing of the architectural competition will precede the announcement of the competition. "We assume that we will share the costs equally in thirds," he noted. However, he added that it will also be necessary to address how the entire project will be financed. Půta expects the results of the architectural competition by the end of next year. According to estimates, the new transfer terminal should be completed in ten to 15 years.

According to the original plans, the terminal at the railway station was to resolve, among other things, the problem of the unsatisfactory facilities at the bus station in Liberec, which, although modernized in the mid-1990s, did not have funds left for the check-in building with facilities for passengers and drivers. For nearly 30 years, a provisional structure made of construction cells has served as the facilities. Until the terminal is completed, the city will relocate passenger facilities to the ground floor of the nearby Uran building, which is being renovated.

According to Mayor Jaroslav Zámečník (Mayors for the Liberec Region), passengers should look forward to a dignified environment in the Uran building this fall. "We originally planned to remove the cells in September of this year; we currently have an addendum with the company Metrostav until September 17, by which they should hand over the completed Uran," the mayor added. He did not rule out that the deadline may be pushed back a bit, as the city hall intends to include the renewal of elevators, sanitary facilities, and risers in the project.