Public transport development and integration have become a priority for public authorities in terms of ensuring of an efficient mobility, reducing of emissions and increasing of the economic level of a city. An efficient transport can significantly contribute to the completion of the authorities’ objectives, and the success of policies applied has its say when urban areas develop in a sustainable manner.
Therefore, an accessible and high qua-lity public transport represents the backbone of a transport system and the reliability, the safety and the easy access become essential elements especially in the case of the underground and tramway transport services.
These reasons are also considered by the authorities in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, which, in order to optimise the transport system, has adopted at the end of 2011 the Integrated Urban Transport Project. According to the strategy, the public transport system will benefit from the traffic management system, the information system for passengers, the construction and modernisation of tramway lines and last but not least the development of the underground system. The project is co-funded by the EU through the Operational Regional Development Programme, EBRD, while at the local level the financing will be granted by the municipality, the Public Mobility Centre and the Sofia Electric Transport Company (SETC). Total cost of investments amount to EUR 61.68 Million, EUR 42.5 Million of which will be offered by the UE, over EUR 13.81 Million by EBRD (which will also grant EUR 7 Million for the development of the e-ticketing system), and local authorities will invest over EUR 12 Million.
In terms of infrastructure, Sofia will have a new 4.6-km tramway line, which will connect the centre of the city with the study districts for students, and in order to facilitate the access of young people to central areas of the capital, the line will be connected to the existing network and will have a connection to the underground transport. According to the strategy, the project will be implemented in two phases, the necessary investments amounting to EUR 12.2 Million. Likewise, the tramway line on the central boulevard (Bulgaria Blvd) will be completely rebuilt, and the stations will be redeveloped. The line will be almost 4-km long (double track) and has been commissioned for over 30 years, and the authorities have decided to modernise the entire line because it is the most crowded on the network. The cost is EUR 5.3 Million, the execution of the project allowing the increase of the tramways’ speed and of their capacity by up to 16 million passengers/year. The modernisation of the line will determine the reduction of the noise and vibration level and the improvement of the traffic safety.
Because the urban rail transport has become a priority of the transport development in Sofia, and the underground network is intended for extension and modernisation, the line connecting it to the airport in Sofia will be completed in 2014, before the date stipulated by the initial programme, declared the Prime-Minister Boyko Borisov. “The development of the underground system will allow the surface traffic decongestion and the reduction of travel time. Apart from the underground development, the municipality also stipulates the construction of adjacent parking”, declared Borisov. Apart from this line, other sections have also been completed before deadline. In April, the Bulgarian authorities have inaugurated a new segment of the underground in Sofia. The 2.4-km section extends the line 1 of the underground to the centre of the city and the boulevard Tsarigradsko and will be further extended until the International Airport in Sofia. The terminus station is equipped with a parking of 1300 places. The project has benefited from European funds and its cost was EUR 122 Million, including the acquisition of new 18 units.
All these projects will contribute to the improvement of the quality of services and passengers’ comfort and will also determine the increase of the market share of the public transport.
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