Freight carriers are still not satisfied with the railway hub project in Brno

Brno – The Association of Freight Railway Carriers ŽESNAD continues to strive for the Railway Administration to take into account all the requirements that will ensure sufficient capacity and throughput of the new Brno railway hub for all types of transport. Although some improvements have been made in recent years, the project status is still not satisfactory for freight carriers, said the Executive Director of the association, Oldřich Sládek, in an interview with ČTK at the Business Rail Days fair in Brno.

"We believe that if such a large project is undertaken at such a high cost, it should be done properly. With such a huge investment, top-notch technology must be used, and it must be built to serve everyone. The Railway Administration is pressed for time, just to get it done already," said Sládek. According to him, various technical issues are being addressed during discussions about changes to the project. The reconstruction of the Brno hub, along with the new station, is estimated to cost around 50 billion crowns according to a study published in 2017, and Transport Minister Martin Kupka (ODS) announced earlier this year that construction is planned to start in 2028.

Currently, there is a freight detour in Brno that avoids the main station, but soon it will no longer be possible to bypass the main station. "We also received an interesting email from the Transportation Department of MMB, stating that this station is primarily for people and freight transportation, that they don't want it there, and that we should go around it," Sládek noted. The new Brno station will need to accommodate both regional passenger transport and faster long-distance international transport, including high-speed trains that are expected to run from here to Prague, Ostrava, and Vienna in the future. "Interestingly, during discussions about the modernization of the Ostrava hub, we managed to come to an agreement with the Railway Administration," said Sládek.

The Brno station should have sufficient capacity for the passage of freight trains because the state proclaims an effort to shift some of the truck traffic to rail. "But so far, it remains a promise. Few people realize that transferring 30 percent of trucks to rail would increase the volume of freight transport on rail by 200 percent. We cannot get that onto the tracks even in an ideal situation, let alone currently with extensive construction activities," remarked Sládek.

ŽESNAD also seeks for more than 30 years since the opening of borders to the west to have more than one usable crossing into Germany, which is on the route from Děčín to Dresden. "We need an electrified crossing with acceptable gradient ratios. We are long-term pushing for the crossing from Domažlice to Furth im Wald," said Sládek. The project is being prepared on the Czech side, while progress has been delayed on the German side. "For them, this direction was not a priority. We have electricity all the way to Cheb and Vojtanova, but the Germans on the other side don’t have the power lines," Sládek added, noting that this complicates competition with road transport. To make this possible, sufficient track capacity is needed to operate long and heavy trains, he pointed out.

Another route that freight carriers could utilize in the future is the former Emperor Franz Joseph Railway, which in the 19th century connected Vienna with Prague via Veselí nad Lužnicí. The corridor from Prague to Veselí is almost complete, and the Austrians are preparing a major modernization of the track in their territory. "Therefore, we are pushing for electrification from Veselí to Český Velenice. It would be a good alternative for the busy route to the Balkans," said Sládek.