The ill-fated construction of the new railway station, which was supposed to replace the Belgrade Main railway station in Savamala, was to last for decades. Originally, in the late 1960s, it was supposed to be constructed near the present interchange of Autokomanda, but the idea was suddenly dropped, and one of the major architectural authorities at the time, Branko Žeželj, picked Prokop instead, which ultimately left the Autokomanda interchange unfinished—the exit in the Niš direction was only finished in 2007. The idea was presented publicly in February 1970. It also included the removal of all tracks from the Savamala (Sava Amphitheatre) and of the Belgrade Main railway station, too, while the location along the river was to be turned into the vast green areas. The Council for Urbanism drafted the projected construction of the new railway station in 1971. The project was monumental and expensive, without a precedent in Yugoslavia. It was envisioned to be "large enough for the entire 21st century" with 10,000 commuters per hour. Because of that, including the seemingly unrealistic deadline of only 18 months, the Council's session after which the plan was given the green light, was very turbulent and lasted for 7.5 hours. In 1974 the design project was finished, preparatory works officially started on 3 December 1976, and full construction began on 8 October 1977. The station building was planned to have a bird-shaped roof. The station was planned with 8 platforms and 11 tracks.