site.btaSofia Opens New Subway Stretch Reaching Gorna Banya

April 24 (BTA) - The new stretch of Sofia's subway
reaching the Gorna Banya neighbourhood was officially opened on
Saturday. In addition to the underground work, the project
includes the construction of 5 kilometres of boulevards, three
parking lots and a connection to the railway network. The subway
 is the most important strategic project for the capital, Sofia
Mayor Yordanka Fandakova said.

In her Facebook profile she wrote that in May Sofia's chief
architect will be working on changes to the city plan to
accommodate the extension of the subway by three additional
stations, and on the continuation toward the Studentski Grad
neighbourhood. The extension of the subway from the Lyulin
station to Sofia's ring road is in its final stage. "A subway is
 not built overnight, and it cannot be subdued to petty
political calculations," Fandakova's post reads.

During the opening, head of Metropolitan EAD Stoyan Bratoev said
 that the third line of the subway is of a new generation,
featuring a new type of automacy, new interiors and controls. He
 added that the functions of the driver are limited, but manual
control is always an option if needed.

The new line will transport passengers to Sofia's downtown in 12
 minutes. It is expected to service about 50,000 people a day.

With the launch of these four additional kilometres of Line 3,
the total length of Sofia's metro tracks now stands at 52 km
with 47 stations.

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During a meeting streamed on Facebook, outgoing Prime Minister
Boyko Borissov set a priority for next year to Mayor Fandakova
and her team to focus on the digitalization of the capital.
"This is what the residents of Sofia expect: a modern, digital
city with internet coverage everywhere," Borissov said. In
Fandakova's words, the adoption of the Resilience and Recovery
Plan is vital, as the Plan earmarks funds for the extension of
Sofia's metro network. Her team added that the representatives
of BSP and Democratic Bulgaria on the Sofia Municipal Council
are against the planned extension of the subway from Sofia's
Business Park to the Simeonovo lift.

RI/MT

/МТ/