Cluj-Napoca subway project still underway, mayor says
The mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Emil Boc, recently gave assurances that the long-awaited subway project will be realized, highlighting the financing contracts involving EU funds.
The completion of the subway project has been debated recently in connection to delays in the reception of EU funds.
“Despite all the discussions in the public space, I want you to know that the subway is happening! In October-November, the 'moles' [tunneling machines] that will dig the tunnels for the metro will arrive, and the actual work will begin,” the mayor said, cited by Profit.ro.
Emil Boc, the longest-serving mayor of Romania’s second-largest city, spoke about transforming the city of Cluj-Napoca into a greener place. The subway project is part of that, but so is converting streets into pedestrian areas and eliminating vehicular traffic.
“Right now, utility diversions are underway, expropriations have been made, and the first station in Florești is being prepared, from where the 'moles' will enter underground. The discussion about funding is technical; the metro has a financing contract with European funds,” Emil Boc added.
Romanian authorities inaugurated the construction site of the first subway line in Cluj-Napoca in June. The subway is scheduled to become fully operational in 2031.
The new line, the first subway project outside Bucharest, will be 21 km long and include 19 stations. The total value of the contract is RON 13.69 billion, of which the EU-backed Recovery and Resilience Facility covers RON 1.48 billion, RON 41 million comes from the Cluj-Napoca City Hall budget and RON 10.04 billion from the state budget.
Discussions about the Cluj-Napoca subway resurfaced after prime minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that sums from payment request number 3 of the EU-backed financing program PNRR, related to micro-enterprises, transport companies, and the energy sector, will be withheld for 6-8 months. However, this does not mean that Romania has lost that funding.
Meanwhile, the minister of transport, Sorin Grindeanu, stated that there were problems regarding the tender for the subway's construction, as some of the project's technical-economic indicators were not registered in the European registry. As a result, the project would have lost funding through the PNRR, but it will continue to receive funding through the Operational Transport Program.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Sabin Cirstoveanu)
