Sofia Metro: Bulgaria's only subway, dug through layers of Roman ruins
Planned since the 1960s and stalled for lack of money in the early 1990s, the Sofia Metro finally opened on 28 January 1998. Tunnelling beneath one of Europe's oldest cities exposed Thracian and Roman remains now displayed at Serdika station, and the network has since grown to four lines and 50 stations.
Building began in the 1980s, clearing many buildings, before funding and technical difficulties halted it. Two stations on what became the blue line, NDK and European Union, had already been partly built with their tunnels during the construction of the National Palace of Culture in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Planners started with the busiest corridor, which carried 38,000 people at rush hour, and the master plan envisaged three cross-city lines, 66.7 kilometres of track, 71 stations and capacity for 1.2 million riders a day.
The opening stretch of the red line covered 6.5 kilometres and five stations. Opalchenska followed on 17 September 1999 and Serdika on 31 October 2000. Delays meant the Mladost end opened on 8 May 2009, running on its own until the centre link arrived on 7 September. A branch to Business Park Sofia, built from 25 April 2013 to 8 May 2015, cost 43,852,320 EUR, and an airport extension of 4.968 kilometres, finished on 2 April 2015, cost 69,923,066 EUR.
The European Union paid half the cost of the second line, begun on 14 December 2008 and opened on 31 August 2012. Line three, designed by Metroprojekt Praha, opened its first section on 26 August 2020, reached Gorna banya on 24 April 2021 and completed all 15 main-line stations when the last three opened on 14 August 2026. A six-station Slatina branch, under construction since early 2023 and due in mid 2027, should carry more than 75,000 people a day and include an underground park-and-ride at Trakiya.
The whole system now spans 52.0 kilometres, ninth among European metros as of 2026. A single ticket costs 0.80 euro and must be validated within 30 minutes. Since November 1, 2021 riders can tap a bank card or phone, and daily spending is capped at 2 euro, so every trip after the third is effectively free.
Source: Sofia Metro
