The International monetary Fund (IMF) has recently asked the Romanian Government to adapt the metro's schedule “to the market”, by the end of June this year, according to Mediafax. The metro network operator in Bucharest also has to increase its revenues by introducing 16 new metro trains into circulation, starting next year.

Metro operator Metrorex is among the Romanian state companies monitored by the IMF. The new conditions were included in the new letter of intent agreed by the Government with the IMF, after the January-February mission. Metrorex’s debts amounted to some EUR 36 million (RON 156.7 million) last year.

The first metro line opened in Bucharest in December 1970. Currently, about 600,000 passengers use the metro daily. The Romanian capital’s metro has a total length of 70 kilometers, divided into four lines, and 51 stops. Authorities are currently working on expanding the Bucharest metro network, with several new lines in various phases.  Most of the network was built during the communist period.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Metrorex)