Bucharest’s General Council approved the Area Town Planning – PUZ that sets the final route for the M6 metro line that will connect the city’s main train station to the Henri Coanda International Airport in northern Bucharest.

The new metro line will start from the existing 1 Mai subway station and will go north 14 kilometers to reach the airport.

It will have 12 stations: 1 Mai, Pajura, Expozitiei, Baneasa Train Station, Baneasa Airport, Baneasa Shopping Area, U.S. Embassy, French High School, Ring Road, Otopeni City Hall, Otopeni Aqua Park, and Otopeni Airport.

The station at the Baneasa Shopping Area will be called Tokyo, as part of the financing for this metro line comes from Japan. The station at the U.S. Embassy will be called Washington, and the station at the French High School will be named Paris.

The work on the new line will start in one year, at the earliest, and will most likely be finalized in 2022, according to Ionel Oprea, technical director of Metrorex, the company that operates Bucharest’s subway system, reports local Hotnews.ro.

The project has an estimated cost of EUR 1 billion plus VAT. A third of the financing is covered from a loan granted by the Government of Japan. The other two thirds of the investment will be covered from EU funds (75%), and the state budget (25%).

Before starting work on the metro line, the state also has to expropriate several private investors who own land on the route of the future line. A Government decision draft for the expropriations is currently in public debate. The state will pay EUR 15 million to 55 private land owners, according to this document.

editor@romania-insider.com