Brno main railway station

The Railjet train Bedřich Smetana to Prague and RegioPanter at 2. platform

The Railjet connection to Vienna

The ticket office in main hall

Brno railway station is combined. It has 4 through platforms with 6 lines and 2 terminal platforms. In total 6 platforms. Through platforms are 415 and 310 metres long and in ground plan are curved into the letter S. Terminal platforms are straight and 350 metres long. The width of platforms is 9 metres and more. Their covering is simple, historical.

The international corridor in the Czech Republic, with main cities marked including Brno

Brno main station is an important station on the pan-international corridor passing through the country (Děčín – Prague – Pardubice – Brno – Břeclav), with international trains serving the station to and from Germany, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria. It is also located on five other lines, three of which carry intercity trains:

• Brno - Jihlava – České Budějovice – Plzeň
• Brno - Havlíčkův Brod – Prague
• Brno - Přerov – Olomouc/Ostrava
• Brno - Uherské Hradiště
• Brno - Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou

Currently Brno station is approaching at full capacity and therefore in need of expansion, however its location on the edge of the historic center of the city prevents that. Capacity problems are just in one part of the railway station, on the southern station head (switch system), where is a regional transport. The question of how to cope with the substance of railway station has been being discussed for several decades. The idea of moving railway station to the new location, 550 metres southern, emerged already in the 1920s. It was after a sudden increase of transport capacity between 1923 and 1924 (26% more). Such an increase has never happened again. Experts who worked for Brno before World War II abandoned this idea. Later on this idea reappeared several times in the new contexts. In 1970 railway station was relieved from freight transport which was transferred to the modernized track on the South. Since then the railway station has been intended purely for passenger transportation.

The city council have made plans to build a new station in a remote location – 960 metres southeast from the city where personal and cargo transport would be reunited again. This possibility is confronted with a continuous opposition of experts and public. Already in 2004 this situation invoked a citizens-initiated referendum. However, this referendum did not become binding for city because of the insufficient turnout (25%). Legislation required 50% turnout at that time. The overwhelming majority of 85% of voters was for keeping railway station on the current place. Nowadays citizens have initiated a new referendum, which will be held simultaneously with regional and senate election[1] on the 7 and 8 October 2016. According to the current legislation only 35% turnout is sufficient for legally binding outcome of the referendum.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brno hlavní nádraží.

• Brno hlavní nádraží, official website
• Train station Brno hl.n.: Brno Central railway station
• Brno Central station, Time table schedule - on line
• Brno hlavní nádraží, timetable - Czech
• Train network map in The Czech Republic
• Czech: Europoint Brno - pages on the station expansion plans