The Prime Minister of Romania, Marcel Ciolacu, and the Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Emil Boc, have launched the construction works for Cluj-Napoca metro Line 1, the second underground transport network in Romania, after Bucharest, and the first driverless metro system in the country.
The ceremony was held on the 5th of June 2024 and was also attended by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Sorin Grindeanu, and the Minister of Finance, Marcel-Ioan Boloș together with other officials.
“I am delighted that I was among the first to break ground on the biggest infrastructure project in the history of Cluj, the metro line. It’s one of the biggest investments that the Romanian Government supports, a project of over EUR 2 billion. Without a metro network, you can’t solve traffic problems in a large and developed city such as Cluj,” Romania’s Prime Minister said.
Line 1 of the metro system will be 21 km long served by 19 underground stations and one depot. The line will connect the centre of the city with its metropolitan area. The first three stations serve high-density residential area of Florești (in the metropolitan area) and the 4th and 5th stations serve the multifunctional areas which are currently on a dynamic development such as the future regional hospital and commercial centre. Stations 6, 7 and 8 will serve Mănăștur neighbourhood – the densest residential area in the city, and then the line follows the west-east highway, crossing the city centre, to Mărăști Square. From here, a branch of the line continues towards the Muncii industrial area, ensuring the connection with the railway system and the future metropolitan train service, and another branch serves the neighbourhoods of Gheorgheni and Sopor, where the depot is also located.
Cluj-Napoca metro project is financed by Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) – Component 4 – Sustainable transport. RON 13.7 billion (EUR 2.7 billion) is the total value of the financing contract, of which RON 1.48 billion (EUR 293.4 million) is covered by the European funding through the PNRR, RON 10 billion (EUR 2 billion) is the cofinancing provided by the national government while RON 41 million (EUR 8 million) is the local contribution.
In May 2023, the design and construction contract including traffic automatization and energy supply system was signed with a consortium comprising Gulermak Agir Sanayi Insaat Ve Taahhut, Alstom and Arcada Company. EUR 2.19 billion is the value of the contract, of which EUR 301 million funding is ensured by the PNRR.
The contract is expected to be completed in 96 months (8 years). “In 2026 the first seven stations are expected to be completed and in 2031 we will have the city’s first metro line,” Emill Boc said.
The line will be used by 26 three-car driverless trains with 540 seats.
The Cluj metro Line 1 is expected to enter passenger operation in 2031 and will be used by 164,000 passengers each day, which would remove 29,000 cars off the roads.
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