Sofia Metro

History

Planned since the 1960s, construction of the Metro was not officially launched until the late 1990s mainly because the city did not experience an urgent need for an underground system in addition to the stalled construction due to lack of sufficient funding. Another factor was the depth at which the construction works had to be carried out: being one of the oldest cities in Europe, Sofia contains many historical layers underneath its central areas. Evidence of antiquity can be clearly seen at the Serdika Station which exhibits a wealth of unearthed Thracian and Roman ruins and modern architecture. During the construction of the enormous complex of the National Palace of Culture two stations forming part of the then future Line 2 and their connecting tunnels were built.

The construction of the system began from the route that sees the highest volumes of passenger traffic, that can easily reach up to 38,000 at rush hour.

Lines

Due to an increased population, there are a large number of passengers heading toward the city center during weekday mornings, and away from the city centre in the weekday evenings. The necessity of efficient public transport in the direction of the largest passenger flows, transport, and Sofia's environmental problems precipitated the start of the construction of the Sofia Metro. Following the ratification of a technical and economic report on the metro by the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria, and the subsequently approved General City Plan, the general scheme for the development of the lines should consist of three diameters with extensions in the periphery, with a total length of 62 kilometres (39 mi), 63 metro stations, and a 1.1 million daily passenger capacity at the final stage of implementation.

First Line M1 – Red line

The first 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) long section of line 1 consisting of five stations linking Slivnitsa Boulevard through Lyulin and K. Velichkov Boulevard was inaugurated on 28 January 1998. Opalchenska station entered into service on 17 September 1999 and Serdika station situated on St Nedelya Square followed on 31 October 2000, extending the total system length to 8.1 kilometres (5.0 mi). The operational section of the line was further extended with a 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) long section, reaching Obelya housing estate in April 2003.

The extension of Line 1 continued in 2005 with the start of the construction of 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) of tunnels and three stations linking St Nedelya Square and the Interped World Trade Center in Izgrev (station Frédéric Joliot-Curie). 2006 saw the start of the construction of another section of the same line (consisting of 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) of tunnels and three stations) linking Izgrev and Mladost I housing estate. The completion of the first three stations was projected for the autumn of 2007, however as a result of various delays it was the second section from the first line (Vasil Levski stadium – Mladost 1) that first entered into service on 8 May 2009, operating for a brief period of time separately from the north-west portion of the line. The remaining section between Serdika and Vasil Levski stadium station finally entered into service on 7 September 2009 establishing an uninterrupted link between Obelya and Mladost 1 stations.

Line 1 branches in two: Northern branch from Mladost I to Sofia Airport (7.2 kilometres (4.5 mi), six stations), and Southern branch from Mladost I to Business Park Sofia (2.62 kilometres (1.63 mi), three underground stations). The construction of the first two stations of the Northern branch began on 15 February 2009 and was completed on 25 April 2012. The construction of Northern branch extension to Sofia Airport for two underground and two overground stations, 4.968 kilometres (3.087 mi) at the cost of BGN 136,757,630 (EUR 69,923,066), VAT exclusive began in 2013, and was completed on 2 April 2015. The construction of the Southern branch to Mladost IV and the Sofia Ring Road began on 25 April 2013. The stretch was completed on 8 May 2015. It cost BGN 85,767,683 (EUR 43,852,320), VAT exclusive, and serves the majority of the second most densely populated area in Sofia.

Second Line M2 – Blue Line

The second line of the Sofia Metro links the districts of Obelya, Nadezhda, the city centre and Lozenets to the south of the city. Half of the construction cost was covered by the European Union, with the remaining part funded by the state and city budgets. Construction of the 6.4 km section between Nadezhda interchange and Lozenets district via Central railway station and the National Palace of Culture started on 14 December 2008. Work on the section between Obelya residential District and Nadezhda started in February 2010. Both sections of the line entered into service on 31 August 2012.

NDK and European Union stations and their connecting tunnels were partly completed during the construction of the National Palace of Culture and the redevelopment of the surrounding area in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

On 20 July 2016, the line was extended southward with 1.3 km and one station, Vitosha, located at Hladilnika neighbourhood. The construction took 2 years.

Provisions have been made for the construction of future branch to Iliyantsi, starting from the existing junction located between Knyaginya Maria Luiza and Han Kubrat stations.

Third Line M3 – Green Line

The 16 km long third line is planned to connect Ovcha Kupel neighbourhood (in southwest Sofia) and Vasil Levski neighbourhood (in northeast Sofia), with 16 stations in total, including two transfer stations in the city centre, with both of the already operational lines. The line should be put into service by 2019.

There will be 8 overground and 11 underground stations. The project design contract was awarded to the Czech company Metroprojekt Praha a.s.

In March 2014, a tender for construction of the central section of the line was announced. The section is 7 km long and includes 7 stations, two of them transfer to lines 1 and 2. With the announcement of the tender it became clear, that the initial plans for 19 stations had been partly amended and 2 of the stations will be not be built, one at Doyran boulevard and another at Shipka street. The tunnel of the central section shall be excavated by a TBM, while the construction of stations shall be awarded to other companies. The construction of the section shall be completed within 45 months. In January 2015, a tender for 20 trains, that shall serve the central section of the line, was announced. Driverless train operation, with Grade of Automation 3 (GoA 3), and platform screen doors will ensure the safety of the passengers. Unlike lines 1 and 2, where the trains collect power through a third rail, line 3 trains will be equipped with pantographs. CAF and Siemens applied bids in the tender for the trains, with Siemens winning it.

In early 2016 construction began on the third metro line of the Sofia Metro using the technology for classic underground metro with high-power support. Under construction are all metro stations in the central section, plus a few in the west and east of downtown Sofia. The third line of Sofia Metro will have a total of 23 metro stations, as follows 16 metro stations for the Main Line and 7 metro stations for the Eastern branch.

Fares and ticketing

The price of a single ticket is 1.60 lev, equivalent to ~0.82 euro. It can be issued either by a cashier, or by a vending machine. When obtained, the single ticket must be validated within 30 minutes at a validator. Pre-paid magnetic card also could be bought (at a price of 2 levs) with minimum 10 pre-paid rides (at a price of 12 levs for 10 pre-paid rides). Daily and monthly cards are also available.

Rolling stock

The system uses two types of rolling stock, both made in Russia.

The older train sets, type 81-717/714, have been manufactured by Metrovagonmash in Mytishchi near Moscow and consisted of 48 carriages in total. They were delivered in 1990 – some 8 years prior to the opening of the first section of the system.

The second generation of rolling stock, type 81-740/741 "Rusich", have also been manufactured by Metrovagonmash. The delivery of this type commenced in 2005. With line M2 now in service, 40 more trains of this type were delivered by the end of 2013.

The third generation of rolling stock, Siemens Inspiro will be delivered in 2018 with the entering in service of Line 3.