The European Commission (EC) has approved an investment of €368m from the European Regional Development Fund to support construction of Metro line 3 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

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The investment will fund phase one of the line, which will link Valdimir Vazov Boulevard, Sofia City Centre, and Zhitnitsa Street. The phase includes construction of an 8km line and eight new stations, as well as 20 new trains.

Construction of the Metro line 3 will improve public transport access to the centre of Sofia.

EC Regional Policy Commissioner Corina Cretu said: "Environment-friendly public transport systems improve the attractiveness of a city for businesses and tourism, boost the competitiveness of the local economy and increase the quality of everyday life. This shows the tangible and positive impact of ESI Funds investments in Bulgaria."

"Environment-friendly public transport systems improve the attractiveness of a city for businesses and tourism, boost the competitiveness of the local economy and increase the quality of everyday life."

The project is designed to link the residential districts Suhata reka, Hadzhi Dimitar, Krasno selo, Slaviya, Belite brezi, Lagera, and Hipodruma with the centre of Sofia. It will also enable access to residential districts Lyulin, Mladost, Obelya, Nadezhda, Lozentets, and Druzhba, via lines 1 and 2.

In March, a consortium of Siemens and Polish train manufacturer Newag were awarded a €140m contract from Sofia’s metro operator Metropolitan EAD to supply trains and signalling for Metro line 3.

The consortium will be responsible for the delivery of 20 Inspiro metro trains and the Trainguard MT automatic train protection system, using wireless train control technology to achieve automatic operation.

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