Bucharest Metro
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Metro trains at Piata Victoriei
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| Overview | |||
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| Native name | Metroul București | ||
| Locale | Bucharest, Romania | ||
| Transit type | Rapid transit | ||
| Number of lines | 4 (1 under construction, 1 planned) |
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| Number of stations | 51 (12 under construction, 24 planned) |
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| Daily ridership | 475,287 (2014) | ||
| Annual ridership | 173,479,646 (2014) | ||
| Operation | |||
| Began operation | 16 November 1979 | ||
| Operator(s) | Metrorex | ||
| Number of vehicles | 498 cars | ||
| Train length | 4 and 6 car trains | ||
| Technical | |||
| System length | 69.25 km (43.0 mi) 8.8 km (5.5 mi) under construction |
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| Track gauge | 1,432 mm (4 ft 8 3⁄8 in) | ||
| Electrification | Third rail 750 V DC | ||
| Top speed | 85 km/h (53 mph) | ||
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The Bucharest Metro (Romanian: Metroul București) is an underground rapid transit system that serves the capital of Romania, Bucharest. It first opened for service on 16 November 1979. The network is run by Metrorex. One of two parts of the larger Bucharest public transport network, Metrorex has an average of approximately 500,000 passenger trips per weekday, compared to the 2,650,000 daily riders on Bucharest's RATB transit system. In total, the Metrorex system is 69.3 kilometres (43.1 mi) long and has 51 stations.
The first proposals for a metro system in Bucharest were made in the early part of the 20th century, by the Romanian engineers Dimitrie Leonida and Elie Radu.
The earliest plans for a Bucharest Metro were drafted in the late 1930s, alongside the general plans for urban modernization of the city. The outbreak of World War II, followed by periods of political tensions culminating with the installation of communism, put an end to the plans.
By 1970, the public transport system (ITB) was no longer adequate due to the fast pace of urban development, although the system was the fourth-largest in Europe. A commission was set up, and its conclusion pointed to the necessity of an underground transit system that would become the Bucharest Metro. The construction on the new metro system started on 20 September 1975.
The network was not built in the same style as other Eastern European systems. Firstly, the design of the stations on the initial lines was simple, clean-cut modern, without excessive additions such as mosaics, awkward lighting sources or excessive decoration. The main function of the stations was speed of transit and practicality. Secondly, the trainsets themselves were all constructed in Romania and did not follow the Eastern European style of construction. Each station usually followed a colour theme (generally white – in Unirii 2, Universitate, Victoriei 1, Politehnica, Lujerului; but also light blue – in Obor and Gara de Nord; orange – in Tineretului), and an open plan. No station was made to look exactly like any other. Despite this, many stations are rather dark, due to the policies of energy economy in the late 1980s, with later modernisations doing little to fix this problem. Bucharest being one of the largest cities in the region, the network is larger than those of Prague or Budapest. When the planned new line-extensions are finished, they will increase the system length to more than 100 km, with about 80 stations.
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