Cotroceni is a neighbourhood in western Bucharest , Romania, located around the Cotroceni hill, in Bucharest's Sector 5 .
43-448: The nearest Metro stations are Eroilor , Academia Militară , and Politehnica . The Hill of Cotroceni was once covered by the forest of Vlăsia , which covered most of today's Bucharest. Here, in 1679 a monastery was built by Șerban Cantacuzino , later to be transformed into a palace in 1888 by King Carol I . Houses were built in the area near the palace by the royal servants and by high-ranking military personnel. Carol I also build
86-499: A canal of the Dâmbovița. After another torrential rain, the river flooded the construction site on the underpass, which then leaked into the M1 station (at 20:30 hours), reaching up to 30 cm above the platforms, at 4:00 hours. The water damaged a number of electrical installations (cables, signals), and flooded service rooms. By midnight, multiple engineers and government officials surveyed
129-454: A connection in between, even though, in fact – and for trip planners – they are a single station with platforms at different levels. There is one exception: Gara de Nord 1 and Gara de Nord 2 are separate stations (although linked through a subterranean passage, the traveller is required to exit the station proper and pay for a new fare at the other station, thus leaving the system), passengers being required to change trains at Basarab. Generally,
172-472: A dyke was temporarily demolished in order to facilitate workings on the M2 station, however, a torrential rain subsequently led to the flooding of the M1 station, which was closed for some time, and the construction site of the M2 station, which was set back by the flood. The second time, on 1 May 1987, the station was again flooded, when, during construction works on the nearby Unirii Underpass, an excavator breached
215-455: A length of 8.1 kilometres (5.0 mi) with 6 stations. Following this, more lines and several extensions were opened: Expansions in the near future (estimative): Lines M1 and M3 have been sharing the section between Eroilor and Nicolae Grigorescu. Lines M5 have been sharing the section between Romancerilor. Lines M4 and M6 have been sharing the section between Gara de Nord 2 and 1 Mai. The newest metro station, Tudor Arghezi (M2),
258-531: 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
301-694: A royal train station named Gara Cotroceni [ ro ] near the palace. The train station was relocated by the communist regime and was later used for transporting materials for the construction of Casa Poporului . Important Romanian figures who lived in this neighborhood: Ion Barbu , Nicolae Herlea , Ion Minulescu , Marin Preda , and Liviu Rebreanu . 44°25′58″N 26°04′18″E / 44.43278°N 26.07167°E / 44.43278; 26.07167 Bucharest Metro The Bucharest Metro ( Romanian : Metroul din București )
344-589: A third rail would not be safe). Maximum speed on the system is 80 km/h (50 mph), although plans are to increase it to 100 km/h (62 mph) on M5 , a new line that opened its first phase on 15 September 2020. New trains from Alstom ( Metropolis ) have been ordered, the first train having arrived in April 2024. In its more than 40 years of operations, there have never been any very grave accidents, however, there have been various incidents, either during construction or operation. Accidents are investigated by
387-586: A train. These incidents led to criticism of METROREX, and suggestions to install platform screen doors or to increase security. Additionally, railfans reported harassment from security guards, being told "not to photograph in the stations". Currently, the Bucharest Metro does not use platform screen doors. Debates about the opportunity of using platform screen doors have been going on for years, and testing of such doors has been taking place at Berceni metro station , but in 2024 authorities stated that it
430-704: Is also larger than some other metro systems of the capital cities of the European Union countries, such as Rome Metro , Copenhagen Metro , Helsinki Metro , Amsterdam Metro , Brussels Metro and Lisbon Metro . In addition, there are plans to extend the existing lines, and to open two more lines, M7 and M8. Bucharest Metro opened in 1979 (line M1), shortly after Brussels Metro (1976), Vienna U-Bahn (1976) and Amsterdam Metro (1977), and before Helsinki Metro (1982) or Copenhagen Metro (2002). The first line, M1, opened on 19 November 1979, running from Semănătoarea (now Petrache Poenaru) to Timpuri Noi. It had
473-421: Is an underground rapid transit system that serves Bucharest , the capital of Romania . 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 720,000 passenger trips per weekday (as of 2018), compared to the 1,180,000 daily riders on Bucharest's STB transit system. In total,
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#1732771838060516-517: Is heavily subsidized, and the subsidies will increase, as the City Council wants to reduce traffic jams, pollution and parking problems and promote public transport. Like the STB , the metro can get crowded during morning and evening rush hours. The network uses magnetic stripe cards , that are not valid for use on trams, buses or trolleys . Payment by contactless credit cards is available directly at
559-620: Is one of the busiest stations of the Bucharest Metro . It is made up of two terminals, one on the M1 and M3 lines and another on the M2 line , linked by a passage. The M1/M3 station was opened on 19 November 1979 as part of the inaugural section of Bucharest Metro, between Semănătoarea and Timpuri Noi . The M2 station was opened on 24 January 1986 as part of the inaugural section of the line, from Piața Unirii to Depoul IMGB . On 24 October 1987,
602-445: Is uncertain whether platform screen doors will be installed, given concerns about financing and costs and benefits . Since all the stations of Bucharest Metro were inaugurated without having platform screen doors, installing such doors would require retrofitting , namely the process of installing platform screen doors on a system that was not initially designed to accommodate such doors, which may be complex and difficult, especially if
645-568: Is yet to complete testing. The subway livery for Bucharest is either white with two yellow or red horizontal stripes below the window for the Astra trains, stainless steel with black and white for the Bombardier trains, or stainless steel with blue and white for the CAF trains. All trains run on a bottom-contact 750 V DC third rail , or an overhead wire (in maintenance areas where
688-706: The Indusi system. Signals are present in point areas and platform ends. Along with the three red-yellow-green lights, the white ATP light has been added. Optical routes can be assigned, meaning that a train gets a green light (permission to pass the signal) only after the next signal has been passed by the train ahead, or a yellow light, meaning that the signal can be passed at low speed. Automatic block signals have been removed. Line 4 uses Siemens 's TBS 100 FB ATC system. Line 5 uses Alstom's Urbalis 400 Communications-based train control system. Trains run from 5 AM to 11 PM every day. The last trains on M1, M2 and M3 wait for
731-408: The type installed were to be full-height doors (rather than half-height doors or rope-doors which are more common in retrofitting, but have limited benefits compared to full height doors). Bucharest Metro was the only one in the world that operated with passengers during testing. In the 1980s, the speed of building the network (4 kilometers / year) placed the Bucharest Metro on the second place in
774-541: The 1989 Romanian Revolution , the socioeconomic and political turmoil of the 1990s largely stagnated the expansion of the metro. Advancement of the construction was difficult, for example, the Gorjului metro station was built in two stages (1994 outbound platform and 1998 inbound platform) and as a consequence the two platforms and associated vestibules were built with different materials and different colour schemes were used. The fourth metro line, M4, for which construction
817-468: The EU, with the exception of M6.2 which is financed by a loan from JICA . Metrorex is also planning the following new lines, routes and stations: The Bucharest Metro uses three types of trainsets: In November 2014, Metrorex signed an additional €47 million contract with CAF for 8 metro trains. As of 2018, 24 CAF trains are in use, exclusively on line M2 . As of April 2024, the first train has arrived and
860-807: The Metro network and the Romanian Railways network, one at Berceni (connecting to the Bucharest Belt Ring), the other at Ciurel (connecting via an underground passage to the Cotroceni-Militari industrial railway). However, the latter connection is currently unused and mothballed. The metro network and the national rail network have almost similar track gauge (using the 1,432 mm / 4 ft 8 + 3 ⁄ 8 in vs 1,435 mm / 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) and loading gauge but not
903-609: The Metrorex system is 80.1 kilometres (49.8 mi) long and has 64 stations . The Bucharest Metro has five lines ( M1 , M2 , M3 , M4 , and M5 ). The newest metro line, M5, was opened in 2020. A sixth metro line, M6 line, is currently under construction. As of 2024, Bucharest Metro is the only metro system in Romania; with a second one, the Cluj-Napoca Metro , being under construction. The first proposals for
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#1732771838060946-500: The Railway Investigation Authority (Agenția de Investigare Feroviară Română (AGIFER)). Aside from these incidents, there have been other disruptions due to suicides at the metro. A recent one on 25 June 2019, led to the disruption of metro traffic at rush hour between Piața Unirii and Eroilor (the suicide took place at Izvor). Aside from that, in 2017, one woman was arrested for pushing a person in front of
989-412: 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, with most stations being relatively austere, without excessive additions such as mosaics, awkward lighting sources or elaborate and ornate decoration. The main function of
1032-460: The construction phase: There are multiple signalling systems used. Line 2, the first one that has been modernized, uses Bombardier's CITYFLO 350 automatic train control system. It ensures the protection ( ATP ) and operation ( ATO ) of the new Bombardier Movia trains. The system uses an IPU ( Interlocking processing unit), TI21-M track circuits and EbiScreen workstations. Signals have been kept only in areas where points are present, meaning that
1075-401: The engineers replied "likely by Tuesday morning". By this time, firemen and metro employees were operating and bringing in pumps to remove the water Shortly after Ceaușescu left, a young man reported flooding into the M2 station downstairs, and 2 hours later, it was found that water was going through a tube designed for electrical cables. Later on, more pumps were brought out for the flooding in
1118-473: The extent of the flood briefed at the station, trying to figure out what to do. At 4:00, when the water level reached the maximum extent, the engineers decided to demolish a cofferdam further down on the river (located near the Mărășești underpass), in order to allow the water to flow freely and to reduce the flooding. Nicolae Ceaușescu visited the damaged station at 10:30; when asked when the stations will open,
1161-438: The former terminus and current terminus, respectively, of line M2). The network is served by six depots, two being located above ground (IMGB and Industriilor) and four underground (Ciurel, Străulești, Pantelimon and Valea Ialomiței) and smaller additional works at Gara de Nord 1, Eroilor 1, Republica, Parc Drumul Taberei, Favorit, Anghel Saligny, Crângași, Piața Victoriei 2 and Dristor 2 stations. There are two connections between
1204-441: The line was extended north to Pipera . A McDonald's fast-food restaurant is located in the vestibule above the M2 line platform. The station also features kiosks selling from newspapers to stationery, bakeries, a diversity of shops, public phones, a large transport police station (with a list of mugshots at the entrance) and mobile-phone servicing points. Due to the numerous entrances located in and around Piața Unirii square to
1247-472: 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 plan for the first line was approved on 25 November 1974 as part of the next five-year plan and
1290-453: The route has been assigned and the driver can use cab signalling. Trains are usually operated automatically, with the driver only opening and closing the doors and supervising the operation. Other features include auto turnback and a balise system, called PSM (precision stop marker). This ensures that the train can stop at the platform automatically. On line 3, the ATC system has been merged with
1333-662: The same electrification system (the metro uses 750 V DC third rail whereas the Romanian Railways use 25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead lines ) making it possible for new metro cars to be transported cross country as unpowered railway cars. This distinction is also seen in the pre-2007 separation between the MTR and the former KCR network in Hong Kong (see Track gauge in Hong Kong ). There are five metro lines in operation and another one in
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1376-429: The second station. The breach was so grave, that further towards Timpuri Noi and Mihai Bravu , a section of the tunnel was fully submerged by water. The water on the M1 station was all cleared out by 7:00 hours on Sunday, at the same time, cleanup efforts began. Because the canal that was breached mainly hosted wastewater, it left a horrible smell in the station, which further hampered cleanup efforts. By Wednesday, all
1419-441: The section between North Station and Bucharest Airport : Standard trip cards are sold as anonymous magnetic strip cards, where as the passes are sold as either MIFARE Ultralight or MIFARE Classic 1000 cards. Passengers can also opt to pay for the trip directly at the gates using credit cards or with Apple Pay/Google Pay. This payment system was implemented in 2019 with VISA, BCR and S&T Romania. These projects are financed by
1462-850: 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 (Union 2), Victoriei 1 (Victory 1), Lujerului ; but also light blue – in Obor , Universitate (University), and Gara de Nord (North Train Station); orange – in Tineretului (Of Youth Sation); green – in Grozăvești ), and an open plan. No station
1505-414: The transfer of the passengers between lines to complete, before leaving Piața Unirii station. At rush hour, trains run at 4–6-minute intervals on lines 1 and 3, at 1-3 minute intervals on line 2, and at 7–8-minute on line 4; during the rest of the day, trains run at 8-minute intervals on lines 1 and 3, at 7-9 minute intervals on line 2 and at 10-minute intervals on line 4. Public transport in Bucharest
1548-538: The turnstiles. One tap will take 3 RON, the equivalent of one trip. For multiple validations with the same card, tap the plus button. Starting from 29 July 2021 Metrorex began replacing the magnetic stripe cards with contactless ones for weekly and monthly passes. As of November 2021 they've replaced most of the cards with contactless ones. Tickets can be bought from any metro station, from both kiosks and vending machines. Prices: Metrorex only tickets: Integrated Metro and STB Passes: Integrated Metro, STB and train on
1591-497: The two metro terminals that make up the entire Piața Unirii station, it is located in Sectors 2 , 3 , 4 , and 5 of Bucharest. The original entrances, opened in 1979 were shut off and replaced by newer ones around 1987, due to the reconstruction of the square. Nowadays some of them serve as service entrances, and from above-ground, they can be noticed by a narrow metal door. The station was flooded twice. The first time in 1983,
1634-455: The underground and overground transportation systems into one authority subordinated to the City of Bucharest , however these plans did not come to fruition. As of 2023, the entire network runs underground, except for a stretch between Dimitrie Leonida and Tudor Arghezi stations on the southern end of the M2 line. All metro stations are underground, except two (Berceni and Tudor Arghezi, which are
1677-557: The underground stations feature large interiors. The largest one, Piata Unirii , is cathedral-like, with vast interior spaces, hosting retail outlets and fast-food restaurants and has an intricate network of underground corridors and passageways. Metrorex is the Romanian company which runs the Bucharest Metro. It is fully owned by the Romanian Government through the Ministry of Transportation. There were plans to merge
1720-585: The world, after Mexico City Metro . The shortest distance between two adjacent stations is between Gara de Nord 2 (M4) and Basarab 2 (M4) and is 430 meters. [REDACTED] Pia%C8%9Ba Unirii metro station Piața Unirii ( Union Square ) is a major metro station in Bucharest . It is located in the southern part of the city centre, in Union Square ( Piața Unirii in Romanian ), and it
1763-463: 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. During the 1980s, the metro network expanded very rapidly, which placed the building speed of the Bucharest Metro on the second place in the world, after Mexico City Metro . Two more lines were opened during this decade, M3 in 1983, and M2 in 1986. After
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1806-448: Was opened on 15 November 2023. Between that date and 8 May 2024, all services to Tudor Arghezi ran in a shuttle service from Berceni , because the signalling and automatisation systems were not yet finished. Large stations which connect with other lines, such as Piața Victoriei, have two terminals, and each terminal goes by a different name (Victoriei 1 and Victoriei 2). On the official network map, they are shown as two stations with
1849-580: Was started in September 1989, shortly before the Revolution, was finally opened in 2000. After Romania's entry in the European Union in 2007, EU funds helped expanding the metro. The M5 line was opened in 2020, and the M6 line is under construction. Due to Bucharest being one of the largest cities in the region, the network is larger than those of Prague , Warsaw , Budapest or Sofia . Bucharest Metro
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