Vilnius of the station and a team of international architects looking for solutions for the development of the surrounding areas suggested that the capital consider the idea of a tram.
According to the Vilnius municipality, experts from the fields of architecture, urban planning and transport from the Netherlands, Norway, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Germany presented possible visions of the territory between New Town and Naujininkai in the creative workshops held by the Lithuanian Railways (LTG) Group and Eurocities of the capital municipality in June.
Plans to renovate an area of approximately 42 ha should become the project's "Vilnius Connect” providing for the conversion of the station area, cont.
According to the municipality, the idea of adapting the railway transport infrastructure in the territory to the tram was proposed by urban planners of the Paris Planning Institute.
"The urban train-tram concept would help to reduce car traffic on Tukstantmečios Street, and the existing east-west and north-south railway branches could be used for intercity trains the station Adapting to the use of public transport in Vilnius", the municipality presents the experts' conclusions.
According to her, in the opinion of the participants of the workshop, the tram could become an alternative means of communication in Vilnius, creating an integrated chain of public transport in the city.
During the workshop, the teams used the simulation urban game created by the company "Vilniaus planas" and put together their urban programs from the elements characteristic of the city: block, public space, street, public objects, i.e. school, kindergarten, conference center.
Professionals who participated in the workshop offered suggestions on how to maximize the infrastructural potential of the territory, form a network of main and internal streets, transport hubs, identify priority areas for pedestrians and cyclists, and organize a convenient network of public spaces. Visions for this area were sought taking into account the capital's General Plan, street standards, historical heritage and green ambitions.
In the workshop, the potential connection of the Vilkpėdė borough with the territories of the railway station and the turnstile located in the train repair depot was also evaluated.
The most difficult issue, according to the municipality, appeared to specialists was the lack of a connection between Tūkstantmečios street and Vilkpėdė quarter. It has been suggested that the railway lines here could be reconstructed and adapted to create the missing link in the future.
The architects also proposed to preserve some old industrial buildings, for example, the historic train repair depot - here the possibility of establishing hotels, offices, residential and commercial, public purpose buildings was proposed.
The urban planners proposed the possibility of creating a green connection between the bicycle area and the Burbiškii forest, by providing a new bicycle and pedestrian connection through the rails, adapting the currently unused viaduct over Tūkstantmečios street. At the same time, the integration of neighboring Naujininkai and the creation of a "ring of green public spaces" were also discussed.
Four years agoLithuanian railwayssigned a memorandum of intent with the Vilnius municipality, according to which it is planned to modernize the territory of the Vilnius station within 5-10 years: connect the railway and bus stations, relocate the headquarters of "Lietuvos Geležinkelių", as well as develop commercial facilities.
"Lietuvos Geležinkeliai" plans to renovate the station building and build a new structure above the tracks - a connection between Naujininkai and Naujamiestis with Old Town.
The "Green connect" project of the British company "Zaha Hadid Architects" won the international architectural project for the new railway station complex "Vilnius connect", held a year ago. The municipality emphasizes that this is an initial idea that can be developed further.
