Railways

Sofia Metro Line M1 (Slivnitsa – Business Park Sofia)

The red line and the first to be built on the Sofia Metro, the only metro system in Bulgaria. Its first 6.5 km with five stations, from Slivnitsa through the Lyulin housing estates to Konstantin Velichkov, opened on 28 January 1998; Opalchenska followed in 1999 and Serdika, under St Nedelya Square, in 2000, taking the system to 8.1 km. Sections begun in 2005 and 2006 carried the line east under the city centre to Mladost 1 in 2009, and a 2.7 km extension reached Business Park Sofia in May 2015, bringing the line to 17.6 km and 16 stations. Between Slivnitsa and Mladost 1 it shares its tunnels with line M4, which branches away to Sofia Airport; a westward extension beyond Lyulin is in planning but has not been contracted.

Total length: 19 km
Open today: 19 km
Sections: 5

Sections

Sections of Sofia Metro Line M1 (Slivnitsa – Business Park Sofia): status, length, dates, cost, funding and contractors
Sections	Status	Length	Timeline	Cost	Funding	Contractors	Contract terms
Stage I: Slivnitsa – Konstantin Velichkov First section of the Sofia Metro: 6.5 km and five stations from Slivnitsa Blvd through the Lyulin housing estates to Konstantin Velichkov Blvd, inaugurated 28 January 1998. Station works began in 1979 at Vardar and the last, Konstantin Velichkov, in 1985; depot works began in 1978 1 4 5	Opened	7 km	1979Construction start Jan 28, 1998Opened	–	National budgetBuilt by the City of Sofia with its own funds, as part of the first seven stations (JBIC: "self-secured funds"). No amount published	–	–
Konstantin Velichkov – Serdika (Opalchenska, Serdika) Opalchenska entered service on 17 September 1999 and Serdika, on St Nedelya Square, on 31 October 2000, extending the operating system to 8.1 km. The two station openings were not costed separately in the published sources 1 5	Opened	2 km	Oct 31, 2000Opened	–	National budgetBuilt by the City of Sofia with its own funds, as part of the first seven stations (JBIC: "self-secured funds"). No amount published	–	–
Serdika – Frédéric Joliot-Curie 4.8 km of tunnel and three stations from St Nedelya Square to the Interped World Trade Centre in Izgrev, started in 2005. Vasil Levski Stadium and Frédéric Joliot-Curie opened on 8 May 2009; the remaining Serdika – Vasil Levski Stadium link followed on 7 September 2009, when the section was in service over its full length 1 6 7	Opened	5 km	2005Construction start Sep 7, 2009Opened	–	LoanJBIC ODA loan BG-P5 to Sofia Municipality, guaranteed by the Government of Bulgaria, signed February 2002: ¥12,894 million approved, ¥12,833 million disbursed. It financed the central 2.3 km with two stations National budgetThe remaining 2.5 km with one station was financed locally	Taisei Corporation (shield tunnel, Serdika – Vasil Levski Stadium)Builder	–
Frédéric Joliot-Curie – Mladost 1 3.2 km of tunnel and three stations (G. M. Dimitrov, Musagenitsa, Mladost 1) linking Izgrev with the Mladost 1 housing estate, started in 2006 and opened on 8 May 2009, at first as an isolated segment 1 5	Opened	3 km	2006Construction start May 8, 2009Opened	–	National budgetDomestic funds, not the Japanese loan (JBIC: "self-procured funds" for the tenth to thirteenth stations). No amount published	–	–
Mladost 1 – Business Park Sofia Lot 2 of the third construction stage: 2.7 km and three underground stations (Aleksandar Malinov, Akad. Aleksandar Teodorov-Balan, Business Park) from Mladost 1 to Business Park Sofia in Mladost 4. Works began 25 April 2013 and the section opened 8 May 2015; the two contracts totalled 85,388,562.98 leva excluding VAT. Built under two design-and-build contracts from an open procedure: 119/2013 (Mladost 1 – km 17+000) signed 29 March 2013 and 114/2013 (km 17+000 – Business Park) signed 28 March 2013, each for 24 months from the start of works 3 8 9 10 11	Opened	3 km	Mar 28, 2013Tender awarded Apr 25, 2013Construction start May 8, 2015Opened	Actual лв102.466MIncluding VAT. Amounts paid under contracts 119/2013 (64,678,925.98 leva) and 114/2013 (37,787,349.60 leva), closed August and September 2015.	European UnionOP Transport 2007–2013, Priority Axis 3: ERDF grant of €93 million towards the €110 million third construction stage, which also covered the M4 airport extension National budget	Обединение "МЕТРО БИЛД МЛАДОСТ" (Mladost 1 – km 17+000)Builder Обединение "ГЕОМЕТРО Б.П." (km 17+000 – Business Park)Builder	24 mo execution · Contract value лв85.389M

Contractor roles are as recorded in the award. Only builders count toward the delivery rankings.

Funding

National budget19 km
5 sections
- Built by the City of Sofia with its own funds, as part of the first seven stations (JBIC: "self-secured funds"). No amount published
- The remaining 2.5 km with one station was financed locally
- Domestic funds, not the Japanese loan (JBIC: "self-procured funds" for the tenth to thirteenth stations). No amount published
Loan5 km
1 section
- JBIC ODA loan BG-P5 to Sofia Municipality, guaranteed by the Government of Bulgaria, signed February 2002: ¥12,894 million approved, ¥12,833 million disbursed. It financed the central 2.3 km with two stations
European Union3 km
1 section
- OP Transport 2007–2013, Priority Axis 3: ERDF grant of €93 million towards the €110 million third construction stage, which also covered the M4 airport extension

A section that lists two sources counts its full length under each: the data records which sources paid, not what share each one carried.

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Sofia Metro Line M1 (Slivnitsa – Business Park Sofia)

Sections

Funding

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