The fate of the billion-dollar reconstruction of the train station in Brno is uncertain after the elections

Brno - The result of the municipal elections in Brno will significantly influence and delay the billion-dollar project of relocating the local railway hub and the planned construction of a new station further from the city center. The emerging coalition includes parties that have previously opposed the relocation of the station and prefer to rebuild the railway station in its current location. Both options want to be compared in an independent assessment. Even after the elections, however, the parties that support the relocation paradoxically hold the majority in the council. If they proceed together, they can push the project through even against the will of the coalition.
    The city council in Brno will likely be formed by Social Democrats, Greens, and independents from the Brno 2006 candidate list of Senator Jiří Zlatuška. Before the elections, all advocated for a station in the center. "I can't imagine that we would suddenly change our minds," says likely mayor Roman Onderka (ČSSD). However, the coalition can only be formed with the promised support of the Communists. And they are in favor of the relocation. Although on Tuesday at the inaugural meeting of the council they will support the coalition led by Onderka, in matters of the station they may vote with the future opposition, namely with the ODS and the Christian Democrats, other long-time supporters of the relocation.
    "We will support this option (the station in the relocated position) as long as nobody convinces us that the other option is better and that funding will not be jeopardized," confirmed today the leader of the Communists Pavel Březa to ČTK.
    Most councilors across parties support the idea of an independent assessment prepared by experts from a university, possibly from abroad. They would determine whether it is better for the city to build a new station further from the center, or to renovate the current one, which is about 150 years old. Quality documentation has only been created for the relocated position so far, funded by the city in previous electoral periods. No one knows how long a comparative assessment would take to be completed and whether all councilors would adhere to it.
    The Greens, according to councilor Martin Ander, would be willing to accept an independent verdict if the recommended option is demonstrably more advantageous for the city and if it is also supported by the public. "This could be determined by a survey, poll, or even a referendum; there are various options," Ander told ČTK today. The Communists wouldn't wait for the assessment either if there was a risk of excessive delay of the project. "We would prioritize implementation over further searching," said Březa.
    The city has already invested hundreds of millions of crowns into the relocation project - it paid for documentation, projects, promotion, and land acquisition. The current state of the hub, according to the previous city council leadership, is chaotic, hinders the city's development, and does not allow for the introduction of high-speed train services. However, opponents argue that the necessary modernization can also be carried out in the center and that there is no need to build a station just under a kilometer away for this reason. Recent estimates for the costs of reconstruction in the relocated position amount to 24 billion crowns. The project was supposed to fully start in the second half of next year.