In addition to Germany, Poland, and Austria, Czechs may also be able to reach Slovakia by train on the high-speed line in the future. The Slovak side has completed a feasibility study for the route between Bratislava and the Czech border, which now needs to be approved by the local government. Both sides will be able to begin detailed planning of the connection.

The high-speed line will lead from Brno to Breclav and further to the border. The Railway Administration is currently designing a section from Brno to Rakvice, which it wants to build from 2028 and have operational by 2033. At Breclav, the line will split towards Austria and Slovakia.

The Slovak part will lead to Czechia from the border with Hungary through Bratislava and the newly planned Bratislava-západ railway station. Miroslav Garaj, director of the Slovak Railways Strategy Department, spoke to Czech Radio about the project:

"From the Bratislava-západ station, a brand new line will be built on a new track at a speed of 300 to 400 kilometres per hour to Czechia.”

The Czech and Slovak railway administrators will now start working together on the preparation of the link. Jakub Bazgler, director of the Construction Administration of High-Speed Lines of the Railway Administration, addressed the early stages of the project:

"Our side and their side will start jointly designing the piece that will connect South Moravia at the level of D2 near Lanžhot to our high-speed railway."

The route from Brno to Bratislava could then be covered by high-speed trains in about an hour.

Obtaining the necessary permits, planning and land purchases for these buildings are usually very difficult and lengthy. The section from Brno to Rakvice should be ready by 2033. And it will only be a short distance to the border, construction will start later on the other side of the Morava River. The Slovaks are now dealing with the EIA procedure. Garaj explains:

"This is a new line, so I expect the process to take two to three years. And the launch of the project is in the pipeline in 2029 or 2030. The anticipated start of construction would be no earlier than 2036 to 2040."

The state is also preparing other high-speed lines from Brno to Prague, for example, with the launch in 2036 and further on to Dresden in 2040.

Prepared by the team of CzechTrade Sofia

Source: Radio.cz