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After the Vilnius City Council approved the agreement with Lietuvos Geležinkeliai (LTG) company on January 6, a joint international architecture competition will be announced in the first quarter of this year, which will determine how the main space near the station will change. train in the future. The transformation of this area is expected to provide an impetus for a major renovation of the entire southern part of the city.
Cooperation agreement in a joint international architecture competition on January 19. signed by Povilas Poderskis, director of the municipal administration of the city, and Mantas Bartuška, general director of LTG, and Karolis Sankovski, general director of LTG Infra, the company that operates the railway network in Lithuania.
The urban view of the station area will change
“The idea of resurrecting the station area for a new life is becoming more and more of a body. This transformation is not just a change in the transportation hub and the plaza that surrounds it. The changes will be visible over a very large area, will include new railway stations and later bus stations, and will significantly change the urban view of the station district, ”said city mayor Remigijus Šimašius.
The municipality and the LTG have agreed to rebuild the intermodal public transport hub in accordance with the concept of public transport stations in Berlin, Frankfurt and Vienna. This means that the space will continue to be the main hub for passengers, offering them food, accommodation and office rental on site. At the same time, the space aims to be attractive to the residents of Vilnius. The public transportation hub is scheduled to be rebuilt in 2023–2026.
“We believe that the number of passengers choosing environmentally friendly train travel will increase significantly in the next decade. Therefore, we want to create a modern and convenient infrastructure – a modern multifunctional transportation, business and leisure center, which would become not only the starting point of train travel, but also a new attraction for Vilnius and city guests with green spaces and convenient connections ”, says LTG CEO Mantas Bartuška.
The space near the train station is set to change unrecognizable. Pedestrian access to the square will be created around the current transportation hub, which will connect the renovated train station and the new bus station.
Convenient infrastructure for travelers
“The renewed territory of the station will allow a wide range of diverse services to be used in one place, and these changes, together with the development of the railway infrastructure, will encourage the choice of fast, convenient and environmentally friendly rail connections. The future connection of the European track “Rail Baltica”, with which we will be able to reach European capitals, will give Vilnius a boost to become an important part of the European rail network “, says Karolis Sankovski, CEO of LTG Infra.
Participants in the international architecture competition will have to present a complex scenario for the conversion of the Station District by proposing a solution of what a unified urban center with a public transport hub should look like.
The evaluation of proposals will pay attention to the needs of passengers, the principles of construction and formation of public spaces, green areas, architectural and functional solutions for buildings and spaces.
The best selected architectural idea must be distinguished by unique solutions that form the modern image of the “city gate”, meet the criteria of openness, compactness, multifunctionality, integrity with the environment, protection of natural and cultural heritage, sustainable mobility.
Participants in the planned tender will design changes to the Palace of the Railway Station and the public transport passenger terminal, the connection between the Old Town and Naujininkai, in the Station Square. The territory includes both real estate managed by LTG Infra under the right of trust as well as state public spaces managed and currently planned by the Vilnius city municipality.
The total estimate of the architecture competition prize fund is 120 thousand. of which the railway company allocates 80 thousand and the municipality of the capital, 40 thousand. euros.
