The Czech rail infrastructure manager Správa železnic (SZ) has begun the procedure to identify an architectural company to design the high-speed rail terminal in Jihlava, 130 km south-east of Prague. The winner of the architectural competition will be announced in the first half of next year.
The terminal will provide connection to the fast rail services on the Prague – Brno route and will have a park and ride facility with connection to all public transport services. Thanks to its convenient location on the outskirts of the city, the terminal will also be connected to the Jihlava – Havlíčkův Brod regional line and the adjacent D1 highway. The uniqueness of this architectural competition is the design of a multi-storey terminal, in which the existing line will intersect with the future high-speed line. Its location was selected to significantly increase the mobility of the residents of the Vysočina Region, in the south-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia.
The competition also includes a bridge over the D1 highway with a span of more than 160 metres and the development of an urban conceptual design which will offer a wide range of options for solutions around the terminal.
SZ says that the “experience from abroad shows that the vicinity of terminals on the outskirts of cities can experience rapid development in the coming years if there is a quality infrastructure connection.”
The terminal in the Jihlava-Pávov municipality is part of the new railway connection from Prague to Brno. It will be constructed on the prepared route Vysočina phase II section between Světla nad Sázavou and Velka Bíteš. Vysočina high-speed line is divided into two phases. The first involves the construction of the Velká Bíteš – Brno section, the second then the construction of the Světlá nad Sázavou – Velká Bíteš section, thus, the entire Prague – Brno high-speed line will be completed. It will allow passenger trains to run at 320 km/h and will provide connections with the express and regional rail services. The 80-km Vysočina phase II section should be built between 2029 and 2034.
The future Prague – Brno high speed rail will be extended to Ostrava that will provide cross-border connection with Poland towards Katowice, as well as to Břeclav (south of Brno) which will ensure the connection towards Austria (in Vienna) and Slovakia, in Bratislava. The project connecting Brno and Břeclav consists of the construction of the Brno – Rakvice high-speed rail section and the modernisation the existing line Břeclav. The “Y” shaped Prague – Brno – Ostrava/ Břeclav will be the main high-speed rail corridor in the Czech Republic to be connected to the network of the Central Europe also allowing connections to Budapest or Warsaw. This line will connect Czechia’s three largest cities and will also serve Jihlava, Olomouc and other regional centres.
The high-speed line between Prague and Brno will reduce travel time from three hours to 50 minutes and will attract up to 60,000 passengers a day, according to the transport model of the project. in addition, the line is designed to provide links with the existing existing regional lines.
The high-speed rail terminal in Jihlava is the third one to be designed after Prague East VRT and Roudnice nad Labem interchange hubs.
In August 2022, SZ awarded Rusina Frei architekti a contract for the design of Roudnice nad Labem interchange hub to be constructed on the Podřipsko high-speed rail section linking Praha and Lovosice. This 60 km rail section will be constructed from 2027 and is expected to be completed in 2030.
In 2021, MP + ov Nehvizdy 2020 was selected to design the Prague East high-speed interchange hub (Praha východ Terminal) that will serve the inhabitants in the north-eastern part of the Central Bohemian Region. This terminal will be built on the railway line in Elbe Flatlands Region for which works are scheduled to begin in 2025. It will mainly serve residents of the northeastern part of the Central Bohemian Region and the adjacent areas of the capital offering access to faste and regional rail services to the centre of Prague as well as convenient connections to Brno, Ostrava, Dresden, Vienna.
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