The underground under construction

This is a part of the soon-to-be-opened line of the underground from Serdika station to Mladost district. It's in front of the International Trade Center of Interpred, on the crossroad of Dragan Tzankov blvd. and F.J. Curie blvd. At this very place the trains would emegre above the ground. A special coverage is made over the tracks so that the inside would be protected from severe weather conditions, and the near blocks and houses would be protected from the noise from the trains passing by.

The underground construction has started in the 1970's and since then not a single complete line has been opened. Most of the construction was made in the 1990's. Currently the line in construction is the one which is aimed to connect the two biggest districts of Sofia: Luilin and Mladost. Named "cities within the city", they provide shelter to probably 1/3 of the inhabitants of Sofia. Currently the underground is opened only from Obelya (a district close to Liulin) to the city centre at St. Nedelya square (Serdika station). Since last year the other part of the line has been in construction: from Serdica station to Mladost district. Luckily, a huge part of it is already built in the 1970's and 1980's. The toughest and most delicate part of the construction is the part between Serdika station and the University of Sofia. It's exactly underneath the core of the city centre, the so-called "Largo". Under the ground there are the remains of the old Roman city of Serdica, so the tunnel should be much deeper than the part from Liulin to the centre. Even now a part of the old city walls are integrated within one station: Serdika (named after the old city).

At the time I'm writing this post the construction is still in progress. Most of the coverage of the track is placed; the part above the ground is almost finished and now the place where the trains would again go underground is in construction: the crossing of Dragan Tzankov blvd. and G.M. Dimitrov blvd. It's also the most recent traffic jam spot in Sofia.

The next stations to be opened are University of Sofia "Kilment Ohridski", "Dragan Tzankov" and "Interpred". Expectedly and hopefully till the end of 2007.

More info: the official website of "Metropolitan Sofia"