Today and yesterday, South-Bohemian media published inaccurate information about the alleged disinterest of the Austrian party in renewing the cross-border track from Slavonice to the Austrian town of Fratres.  The Ministers of Transport of the Czech Republic and Austria have made repeated joint declarations (most recently on 18 October 2004, in Vienna), that they consider the connection of the railway a symbol of the renewal of neighbourly relations, interrupted by the totalitarian regime.  The joint declaration of last October continues to apply, in which the representatives of the Highlands Region, South-Bohemian Region, and the Land of Lower Austria, undertook to renew this regional rail route.  No other intentions were registered by the representatives of the Ministry of Transport which participated in the joint Czech-Austrian working group.  Quite the contrary, the Ministry is planning that trains will start operating on the Kostelec – Slavonice – Fratres route in May 2006.
 
Speculations about the alleged disinterest of Austria in the renewal of the railway connection between Kostelec – Slavonice – Fratres appeared after a bilateral meeting of Czech Rails (ČD) and the Austrian Federal Railway (ÖBB), on 2 March 2005.  The representatives of the Austrian rail operator said that the Slavonice - Fratres route is not a priority for them.  The attitudes of both Austrian and Czech regional representatives as well as the ministries of both countries, however remain unchanged.  Work on the preparation of the track continues.  If ÖBB and ČD are not interested in operating the route, the option to use the renewed track will be offered to other rail operators, as was the case elsewhere.
 
The renewal of the railway is a joint Czech – Austrian project to improve cross-border railway transportation.  On the Czech side, work consists of the reconstruction of 600 meters of track from Slavonice to the border, and of the renovation of 53 km of track between Slavonice - Kostelec u Jihlavy.  In Austria, 8 km of track must be re-built to reach to town of Fratres.  Including the renovation of railway stations, the Czech Republic should spend approximately CZK 60 million on the renovation of the railway track (of which CZK 10 mil. is for the segment from Slavonice to the border), and Austria approximately CZK 400 million.  It is expected, however, that 50% of the cost would be covered by a contribution from European Union funds.