At January 26th 2016 one of the construction stages of Prokop was completed. Although this is a big step forward, more needs to be done to have a fully functional new main gate of the European city, which is the main purpose of all the major railway stations in Europe.
(NO) CONNECTION TO PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Except for taxi and car, Prokop is very difficult to get today. From public transport, the best connection is with the city rail BG: VOZ. This is paradoxical, since every current station of the city railway line Pančevački Most - Batajnica is better connected with the surround, and therefore more used then the station that is officially called "Belgrade - Center". The access roads from the direction of the Duke Alexander Karađorđević's boulevard are finished June 20th 2017, but there is no redirecting of the frequent trolleybus lines 40 and 41 is closer to the station itself. Even if they redirect them, we have few articulated trolleybuses, and these two lines are already heavily burdened. In addition, they approach the central city area by Knez Miloš street, where there are no bus lanes and where traffic speeds often fall below 10km / h during working day. Short circular bus route 36 have interval 20min during working day, 40min on weekends, and route 34 is a minibus on every 35 minutes.
Although almost all major stations in European cities with more then milion people have metro, even in them, the metro is just one part of the station's connections with the surround. Along with such stations there is a public transport square, where it is usually the busiest bus station in the city, and the busiest stop for the city tramway. Taking into consideration that there is no plan with terms, finances and garancies to build a subway, the development of the public transport square in front of the the station is a condition for the cost-effectiveness of a costly new railway station. The tram is crucial here, not only because of ecology, traffic jams and twice the capacity of the bus, but also because of the easy orientation for those who do not know Belgrade sufficiently. The Association of Railway enthusiasts demands that Prokop be linked by tram connections to the Mostar Loop, and to the Autokomanda Loop. That means forming extended "Circle of the Two" in the direction of Prokop. (The "Circle of Two" is area insade circle formed by tram line 2, which is symbol of narrow center.) At the same time, it is possible to form tram lines that Prokop connects with Vozdovac, Zvezdar, Čukarica, Rakovica and Novi Beograd.
Since "Belgrade Waterfront" plans to relocate all suburban lines from the area of the present Main Railway Station, such a public transport center we should build next to Prokop. That kind of public transit change center isn't planned until now. This means that by the functioning of the city it would be much better for suburban buses from Obrenovac, Lazarevac, Surcin, Sopot, Mladenovac terminate at Prokop than on Novi Beograd. In addition, direct buses are needed for Grocka, Borca, Barajevo, important centers that until now had no direct connection with the Main Railway Station.
HOW TO MAKE PADESTRIAN & CYCLING FRIENDLY SURROUND?
Most of the most important city contents of Belgrade today are located on the ridge from Kalemegdan to Vracar Hill. Prokop is separated from the Vračarski hill by the "gorge" in which the motorway is located, which makes the contents of city center very difficult to approach, even they are not so far away. In order to connect with the Central Medical District, faculties, embassies, governmental institutions, a pedestrian-bicycle connection is necessary across the mentioned "gorge" from the upper plate of Prokop to Resavska Street, which can become a pedestrian and pedestrian-tramway street. It is very important that such a connection be without stairs and steep ramps. In the official plans, there is a main road that connects Prokop and Slavija to Deligradska Street. This connection is a very important link for road traffic, but for most pedestrian traffic this connection is unsuitable.
HOW TO MAKE PROKOP COST-EFFECTIVE?
In the world, investing large railway stations doesn't get revenue from the sale of tickets, but through the development of trade, business and tourism facilities. In the world, around big and important railway stations are the tallest highrises and skyscrapers, the most expensive hotels, the most busy and economically most successful shopping centers. The famous Empire State Building in New York, which for a long time was the tallest skyscraper in the world, was made reasonably near the two busiest railroad stations in the United States. In Milan, the most important business district of Italy was built on the site of the former warehouse tracks along the main railway station. Today, this station is the largest crossroads of high-speed trains in Italy. In the case of Prokop, we have a beer factory and Maleško Hill with ground-floor houses. The residents of Maleš Hill due to Prokop for decades have been unable to obtain building permits for the adaptation or upgrading of their houses. After decades of delay, many did not live enough to receive redemption, eviction and finally resolving their housing issues. The zone of potential development of new contents along the station is about 20 hectares. For comparison, in Vienna, during the construction of a new main station at the site of the old South Station, the same business plan included the construction of 500,000 square meters of office space.
(NO) CONNECTION TO PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Except for taxi and car, Prokop is very difficult to get today. From public transport, the best connection is with the city rail BG: VOZ. This is paradoxical, since every current station of the city railway line Pančevački Most - Batajnica is better connected with the surround, and therefore more used then the station that is officially called "Belgrade - Center". The access roads from the direction of the Duke Alexander Karađorđević's boulevard are finished June 20th 2017, but there is no redirecting of the frequent trolleybus lines 40 and 41 is closer to the station itself. Even if they redirect them, we have few articulated trolleybuses, and these two lines are already heavily burdened. In addition, they approach the central city area by Knez Miloš street, where there are no bus lanes and where traffic speeds often fall below 10km / h during working day. Short circular bus route 36 have interval 20min during working day, 40min on weekends, and route 34 is a minibus on every 35 minutes.
Although almost all major stations in European cities with more then milion people have metro, even in them, the metro is just one part of the station's connections with the surround. Along with such stations there is a public transport square, where it is usually the busiest bus station in the city, and the busiest stop for the city tramway. Taking into consideration that there is no plan with terms, finances and garancies to build a subway, the development of the public transport square in front of the the station is a condition for the cost-effectiveness of a costly new railway station. The tram is crucial here, not only because of ecology, traffic jams and twice the capacity of the bus, but also because of the easy orientation for those who do not know Belgrade sufficiently. The Association of Railway enthusiasts demands that Prokop be linked by tram connections to the Mostar Loop, and to the Autokomanda Loop. That means forming extended "Circle of the Two" in the direction of Prokop. (The "Circle of Two" is area insade circle formed by tram line 2, which is symbol of narrow center.) At the same time, it is possible to form tram lines that Prokop connects with Vozdovac, Zvezdar, Čukarica, Rakovica and Novi Beograd.
Since "Belgrade Waterfront" plans to relocate all suburban lines from the area of the present Main Railway Station, such a public transport center we should build next to Prokop. That kind of public transit change center isn't planned until now. This means that by the functioning of the city it would be much better for suburban buses from Obrenovac, Lazarevac, Surcin, Sopot, Mladenovac terminate at Prokop than on Novi Beograd. In addition, direct buses are needed for Grocka, Borca, Barajevo, important centers that until now had no direct connection with the Main Railway Station.
HOW TO MAKE PADESTRIAN & CYCLING FRIENDLY SURROUND?
Most of the most important city contents of Belgrade today are located on the ridge from Kalemegdan to Vracar Hill. Prokop is separated from the Vračarski hill by the "gorge" in which the motorway is located, which makes the contents of city center very difficult to approach, even they are not so far away. In order to connect with the Central Medical District, faculties, embassies, governmental institutions, a pedestrian-bicycle connection is necessary across the mentioned "gorge" from the upper plate of Prokop to Resavska Street, which can become a pedestrian and pedestrian-tramway street. It is very important that such a connection be without stairs and steep ramps. In the official plans, there is a main road that connects Prokop and Slavija to Deligradska Street. This connection is a very important link for road traffic, but for most pedestrian traffic this connection is unsuitable.
HOW TO MAKE PROKOP COST-EFFECTIVE?
In the world, investing large railway stations doesn't get revenue from the sale of tickets, but through the development of trade, business and tourism facilities. In the world, around big and important railway stations are the tallest highrises and skyscrapers, the most expensive hotels, the most busy and economically most successful shopping centers. The famous Empire State Building in New York, which for a long time was the tallest skyscraper in the world, was made reasonably near the two busiest railroad stations in the United States. In Milan, the most important business district of Italy was built on the site of the former warehouse tracks along the main railway station. Today, this station is the largest crossroads of high-speed trains in Italy. In the case of Prokop, we have a beer factory and Maleško Hill with ground-floor houses. The residents of Maleš Hill due to Prokop for decades have been unable to obtain building permits for the adaptation or upgrading of their houses. After decades of delay, many did not live enough to receive redemption, eviction and finally resolving their housing issues. The zone of potential development of new contents along the station is about 20 hectares. For comparison, in Vienna, during the construction of a new main station at the site of the old South Station, the same business plan included the construction of 500,000 square meters of office space.