The state is working to ensure that the new train station in Brno starts being built by 2030

Brno - Construction of the new train station and the overall reconstruction of the railway junction in Brno should start within this decade, said Jiří Svoboda, the general director of the Czech Rail Administration, at a conference in Brno today. Minister of Transport Martin Kupka (ODS) added that the state is working to ensure that the new station will be operational by 2035. However, Brno councilor Petr Kratochvíl (ODS) mentioned today for the first time that the long-discussed underground railway, which is supposed to connect the new station with the city center and northern Brno, is not a priority and will not be built for a long time.

So far, the Ministry of Transport has talked about 2028 as the start date for the station's construction. Although Brno has had an architectural study for the new station for several years, along with a physical three-dimensional model of the surrounding area, the design of the massive structure is only just beginning. Therefore, it's still unclear how much money will be needed for the construction of the new station and the reconstruction of the junction. A nearly seven-year-old feasibility study estimated costs at 50 billion crowns; today, the Czech Rail Administration is considering more than 60 billion. Kupka stated he would strive to secure as much funding from European funds as possible. He also admitted that it would be appropriate to consider financing from the private sector, specifically through PPP (Public-Private Partnership) models.

Similarly, the city is currently unable to quantify the costs it will have to invest in transportation and related constructions that are necessary to ensure comprehensive transport connections to the new station. It will be located where the current lower station is, which lies about a kilometer south of the current main station. City representatives spoke today about billions of crowns from the municipal budget. "We need to connect Hněvkovského Street with Heršpická using an overpass," Kratochvíl mentioned two exit routes from Brno to the south. Thanks to the new construction, it will be possible to serve the Brno station from the south. The city must also prepare and construct facilities that enable access to the station via public transport by that time.

However, according to city officials, the new station will not be served by a fast and capacity underground railway for many years. All public transport, which has been overloaded in the north-south direction for several years, will run on the surface. The underground railway, known as the north-south diameter, has been discussed in Brno since the 1970s. It is supposed to connect the new station with the city center and continue northward, where it will curve toward Královo Pole or Řečkovice and connect to the Tišnov line. According to Kupka, a decision on whether the Brno underground will be served by trains or trams is expected to arise from the feasibility study within two years. However, Kratochvíl stated that such investments await Brno that discussions about building the underground railway will only be viable once the new station, high-speed tracks, and all other transport constructions associated with these investments are completed.

Moreover, with the construction of the new station, the center of Brno will lose its railway connection with the currently accessible peripheries, as not only will the station be moved, but the line connecting Horní Heršpice and Židenice via the main station is also set to be discontinued.