Bulgarian Minister of Transport, Ivaylo Moskovski, officially launched the second construction stage of Sofia’s metro Line 3.
This phase envisages the construction of Zhitnitsa Str. – Ovcha Kupel residential area – Ring Road section, in the south-western part of the city. The total length of the line is 3.8 km and 4 metro stations. One of the stations will have connection with the national railway network, to the Sofia-Pernik line. The main part of the section will be underground constructed, excepting the part of the route between metro stations – MS14 and MS15. The total value of the project is EUR 102 million, of which EUR 69 million are provided by the European Union, under the OP “Transport and Transport Infrastructure” 2014-2020.
“The construction of Sofia metro has an extremely high added value not only to the ecology and economic development of the region, but also to the transport links between the residential areas and the movement of hundreds of thousands of people daily. In 2019 Sofia will have another metro beam with 12 new and contemporary metro stations,” the Minister Moskovski said.
The estimated capacity of the section is 40000 passengers per day and, when the whole line will be completed, the estimated traffic is 130,000 passengers per day.
Sofia’s Metro Line 3 is being implemented under two phases. The works on the first stage of the Line 3 were launched in 2016 and involve the construction of a 8 km section with 8 stations. Currently, the progress of the project is 40%. It will be put into service in 2019, when 20 metro trains will operate on the line. The construction contract is performed by a consortium of Doğuş, Via Construct and Ultrastroy. 
In February, the Deputy Minister of Transport Lubomir Hadjiysky officially launched the activity of the tunnel boring machine that will construct the first section of Sofia metro Line 3. In 2015, Metropolitan EAD, the metro operator of Sofia, Bulgaria, selected a consortium consisting of Siemens and Newag for equipping the new metro line 3 in the capital of Bulgaria. Under the EUR 140 million contract, the companies will supply 20 Inspiro type metro trains and the Trainguard MT automatic train protection system, using wireless CBTC technology (communications-based train control) to achieve automatic operation. An option for ten more trains and the related automation system is also part of the contract.
The metro Line 3 will create an east-west link that will run 18 km mostly under the city and also at ground level outside the central parts and will serve 18 stations. The project cost is EUR 500 million, of which EUR 350 million is covered by the EU funds. The financing of the project is ensured at 70 percent by the EU under the Operational Program “Transport and Transport Infrastructure” and 30 percent are locally co-financed.
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