The Bucharest state-owned metro company Metrorex transported almost 90 million passengers in the first half of the year, according to data from the Transport Ministry. Last year, 170 million passengers used the Metrorex network, and in 2008, 182 million.

The company will expand the Bucharest metro network. Works on the 1 Mai – Pajura line will end mid-2011.  The 1 Mai – Laromet line is part of the IV metro line, which connects Gara de Nord- Basarab- Laromet. Works on the Gara de Nord – 1 Mai line were finalized in 2000, following EUR 60 million in investments.

Metrorex is also planning to start the acquisition procedures for pre-fesability and feasability studies for the line connecting Alexandriei and Voluntari. The companies which will work on the Universitate – Drumnul Tabarei line will also be chosen by the end of the year.

The deadline for choosing the consultant for the metro line connecting downtown Bucharest to the Otopeni airport is spring next year. A EUR 315 million Japanese loan will be used for this investment project.

The Bucharest metro line is 67 kilometers long, it includes four main lines, with 49 stations. The Bucharest metro carries around 25 percent of the commuters in Bucharest.

editor@romania-insider.com