Cestujícím ve Vsetíně začal sloužit odbavovací terminál pro vlaky a autobusy Passengers in Vsetín have begun using a check-in terminal for trains and buses

Vsetín – Today, travelers in Vsetín can use a ticket terminal for trains and buses. They can also utilize the new underpass to the individual platforms. The modernization of the railway station was initiated by the Railway Administration at the end of 2021, and it is expected to be completed this December. The costs, including preparations, exceeded three billion crowns excluding VAT, said Jiří Svoboda, the general director of the Railway Administration, to journalists today. A significant portion of the necessary funds was covered by European subsidies.

The outdated dispatch building has been demolished by the builders. In its place stands a two-storey terminal for railway and bus transport. "Improving transfer connections is one way to achieve higher quality public transport, thus increasing its attractiveness for the general public," stated the Minister of Transport Martin Kupka (ODS), who attended today's ceremonial opening of the terminal.

The existing platforms, which travelers had to cross the tracks to reach, have been replaced with new, sufficiently wide and covered ones. Thanks to their height, people can get on the trains more comfortably. The platforms are connected by an underpass with elevators. It starts at the Smetanka department store, runs under the tracks, and connects parts of the city on both sides of the station. "Basically, this was not some reconstruction, but the establishment of a completely new station in every respect," said Svoboda.

The work, which required partial track closures, included not only the reconstruction of the entire railway station but also the connected section of track to the Ústí u Vsetína stop. For safety reasons, a level crossing near the station has been removed; motorists can use a new road and bridge over the Rokytenka stream. In place of the existing crossing over the tracks on Štěpánská Street, an underpass has been created that leads to the U Křivačkárny street.

In collaboration with a private investor, the city of Vsetín previously built a shopping zone near the station. It is now completing the construction of an underpass under Nádražní Street. This will connect the underground parking lot of the Smetanova shopping gallery with the transport terminal and will link to the underpass built by the Railway Administration under the platforms. Construction work is also continuing behind the station.

In cooperation with the Zlín Region Roads Directorate, the municipality is also planning a reconstruction of Nádražní Street in the section from the intersection with Svárov Street to the polyclinic, where a roundabout will be built. The planned works will also include the construction of a road that will ensure access for cars to the parking garage and exit from it, as well as relocating the bus station closer to the train station. "The city will pay approximately 300 million. Everything should be finished in about a year," said the mayor of Vsetín, Jiří Čunek (KDU-ČSL).

The opening of the terminal was accompanied by the arrival of Masaryk's presidential car and also the Slovak arrows. The development of the motor train presented in 1936 was contributed to by the Vsetín industrialist, inventor, and politician Josef Sousedík, whose work is commemorated in the terminal building by the sculpture of artist Veronika Plátková.

Most of the work on the reconstruction of the railway station is already completed. The construction of the parking garage and bus station is ongoing. Vsetín is traversed by a double-track international electrified railway line connecting Hranice na Přerovsku with Slovak Púchov.