The South Moravian Christian Democrats consider the new variants of the Brno railway station to be a hindrance

Brno - The South Moravian KDU-ČSL has opposed the proposal from the ANO movement to build a new train station in Brno in the Brno-south district. According to the regional chairman of the Christians and deputy governor Roman Celý, the decision is currently being made on the variants of the station under Petrov or by the river, and any other options could delay the entire process by several years. As a result, Brno may not receive funds from the European Union. He, along with other regional Christian representatives, described it as a gamble with regional rail transport not only in Brno but across the whole region.

ANO came up with a new proposal to build the station near Vodárenská street a week ago, thus bypassing two proposals that are being compared in a feasibility study by the Railway Administration as the investor. According to ANO, the station in the south is cheaper than the two discussed variants and offers more space for further development. The movement has the proposal in the form of a concept, but lacks a study.

"We fundamentally disagree with the strange creativity of other political parties that are presenting new variants. If we continue to shuffle in one place, South Moravia will lose its railway accessibility to the whole of Europe. Furthermore, we would be throwing hundreds of millions of crowns out of the window for studies that were dedicated to the variants under Petrov and by the river," Celý emphasized.

According to him, the regional Christians have also informed the city councilors, who are currently negotiating the formation of a coalition in the Brno magistrate. In April, the coalition of ANO, Žít Brno, KDU-ČSL, and SZ collapsed due to disputes between ANO and KDU-ČSL regarding the management of city companies. KDU-ČSL now wants to return to the old coalition expanded by TOP 09. However, the station could be another cause of disagreement between the parties.

ANO wants a third variant, which the deputy mayor Matěj Hollan (Žít Brno) considers a transport nonsense. The Greens advocate for the variant under Petrov. "We do not want to push any variant. Let the experts and feasibility studies decide which is better. If they are at the same level, we will lean towards the variant by the river," Celý added. According to the Christians, this option is more prepared and is cheaper, whereas at Petrov, tunnels would need to be built underground, and solutions would have to be found for, for example, heritage-listed buildings.

The modernization of the train station in Brno has been discussed for almost 100 years. The transport capacity of the current station is exhausted, which is why discussions are taking place about moving the station approximately 150 meters under Petrov or 800 meters towards the river near Zvonařka. The connection to public transport is essential, as well as connections to high-speed lines. The third new variant proposed by the ANO movement would move the station more than a kilometer to the south into an area with a dense railway network; however, there is a complete lack of road access and public transport there.