Bucharest Metro

The Bucharest Metro (Metrou Bucuresti in Romanian) is an underground urban railway network that serves the capital of Romania, Bucharest. The network is run by Metrorex. It is one of the most accessed public transport systems in the city.

Table of contents

1 Lines
2 History
3 Future Development
4 Trip Planner
5 See also
6 External links

Lines

The subway system consists currently of four lines: M1, M2, M3 and M4. In total, the network is 63km long and has 45 stations, with 1.5km average distance between stops.

The lines run via the following stops:

M1: Pantelimon-Dristor-Piaţa Unirii-Dristor (1979)
M2: Pipera-Piaţa Unirii-IMGB 2 (1986)
M3: Industriilor-Piaţa Unirii-Pantelimon (1983)
M4: Gara de Nord-1 Mai (2000)

History

The Bucharest Metro is one of the most successful results of Communist Romania. It was built in the standard Eastern European style, even though due to the fact that Bucharest was one of the largest cities in the region, it was quite larger than networks in other cities. Even today, the Bucharest Metro is still larger than underground systems in cities such as Prague or Budapest.

The first line, M1, opened on November 16, 1979, running from Timpuri Noi to Semanatoarea. It was 8.63km long with 6 stations. Following this, more lines were opened:

December 1981: M1/M3 Timpuri Noi - Republica; 10.1 km, 6 stations
August 1983: M3 Branch line Eroilor - Industriilor; 8.63 km, 5 stations, Gorjului station added in 1991
December 1984: M1 Semanatoarea - Cr�ngasi; 0.97 km, 1 station
January 1986: M2 Piata Unirii - Depoul IMGB; 9.96 km, 8 stations
October 1987: M2 Piata Unirii - Pipera; 8.72 km, 6 stations
December 1987: M1 Cr�ngasi - Gara de Nord 1; 2.83 km, 2 stations
August 1989: M1 Gara de Nord - Dristor 2; 7.8 km, 6 stations
January 1990: M1/M3 Republica - Pantelimon; 1.43 km, 1 station
March 2000: M4 Gara de Nord - 1 Mai; 3.6 km, 4 stations

Large stations which connect with other lines (such as Gara de Nord) have two terminals, and each terminal goes by a different name (Gara de Nord 1 and Gara de Nord 2). On the official network map, they are shown as two stations with a connection in between, even though, in practice (and in trip planners), they are really only one station.

Future Development

The Bucharest Metro is currently in a period of renewal. In 2002, new high-quality trainsets were introduced, manufactured by Canadian maker Bombardier. They are air-conditioned. Also, the following extensions are in the process of being built, and will be finished by 2004:

An extension of Line M4 (opened in 2000 and currently running from Gara de Nord-1 Mai) to be opened from 1 Mai to Laromet via Pajura (3.1 km, 2 stations), in the city's north.
An branch of Line M1/M3 from Nicolae Grigorescu to Linia de Centura (4.7 km, 3 stations).

These extensions will raise the network size to 50 stations with 70.8 km length, making it rather extensive. Metrorex is also planning the following new lines and routes:

A new line, M5, which is not precisely decided yet, but will run from the Colentina quarter, via the city center at to the large district Drumul Taberei in the city's southwest.
An extension of some lines, or a new line altogether, serving the two main airports of Bucharest: Otopeni International Airport and Baneasa Airport. This will not happen anytime in the near future, even though, in August 2003, a feasability study was conducted into the project, and it is near-certain that this project will go on.

There is also talk of establishing a commuter railway system in Bucharest, similar to the RER of Paris, to complement the Metro. This will be run jointly by Caile Ferate Romane, the national railway carrier, and Metrorex. There are plans to make the airport link railway a mass rapid transit railway, with a fast, direct connection, rather than a conventional metro line. Both airports are currently only served by bus.

Trip Planner

An online trip planner can be found at iMetro Bucharest. For a list of stations to use with the planner, refer to List of Bucharest metro stations.

If you are travelling to Bucharest and would like a trip planner for the Metro, please visit http://nanika.net/metro and download the MetrO program by Patrice Bernard, along with the Bucharest city file. This excellent program will find the quickest way between two stations, and is only for Palm OS or Pocket PC handhelds.