The study of the Brno underground railway is to be completed by the end of this year.

Brno - The feasibility study for the Brno underground railway, which is designed to significantly relieve overloaded surface transport, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. It is also planned to be discussed with the public by that time. The preparation of the second phase of the study is currently underway, in which experts will thoroughly assess seven possible route options, and the suitability of individual modes of transport will also be evaluated. This was stated by Filip Poňuchálek, spokesman for the Brno city council.

The city commissioned the study in the second half of 2020; discussions about its commissioning began as early as the end of 2017, when the feasibility study for the reconstruction of the Brno railway junction was presented. Brno needs a rapid underground rail connection in the north-south direction, known as the north-south rail diameter, and it will need it even more after the relocation of the train station to the south. This is the direction in which the most heavily used tram lines 1 and 12 operate, which can no longer accommodate more passengers during the morning rush hour. Long capacity trains run on these lines at very short intervals. After the train station is moved, these flows will be even stronger.

It was previously assumed that a suburban train would pass through the underground in Brno; however, the study is exploring whether a tram or a traditional metro might be a better option. "The analysis will evaluate the benefits and costs of the options with all these modes of transport,” stated Poňuchálek.

How the further preparation will look depends on the results of the study. Considering how long the preparation for the modernization of the Brno railway junction takes, it is unlikely that construction will begin within this decade. It is not clear how much money will be needed for the construction of the underground railway. The main direction it should take is from the south, approximately from the site of the planned new station, towards the north under the city center, curving towards the northeast, emerging in Královo Pole or Řečkovice, and connecting to the railway line from Královo Pole to Tišnov. If a tram is used, it could connect to some tram sections to residential areas, for example, from Žabovřesky to Bystrc.

The need for an underground rail public transport system in Brno has been discussed since the 1970s. Currently, Brno has 380,000 inhabitants, with future increases expected to reach half a million, while tens of thousands of people commute to Brno daily. According to the former councilor for urban planning Filip Chvátal (KDU-ČSL), a combination of trains and trams is also feasible, which could solve the problem of collapsing transport in the city and the surrounding area. In Prague, it took 76 years from the first proposal to the commissioning of the first metro line.

The fate of the Brno underground railway is not decided solely by the city, but by a steering committee composed of representatives from Brno, the Ministry of Transport, the Railway Administration, the South Moravian Region, and the State Transportation Infrastructure Fund.