According to eager representatives of the Bulgarian authorities, the construction of the second line of the Sofia Metro is two months ahead of schedule and will most likely be launched in June 2012.

Mr Boyko Borisov Prime Minister of Bulgaria together with Sofia Mayor Mr Yordanka Fandakova, Finance Minister Mr Simeon Djankov and EU Funds Minister Mr Tomislav Donchev inspected the construction of the metro at the Lavov Most station with much fanfare; the section in question is being built by the Turkish company Dogus Insaat.

Mr Borisov said that "When we broke the ground of this section I told the Turkish company that if they delay the construction, there will be severe sanctions. Right now they are two months ahead of schedule."

He said that the French company supervising the construction had reported flawless progress. He added that "Our estimates show that the second metro line will reduce the car traffic in Sofia by 25%. Let others promise you whatever they wish. I am telling you what we are doing accelerated construction using billions of euro from the EU, the state, and the Sofia Municipality."

The head of the Sofia Metropolitan company Mr Stoyan Bratoev clarified that the second metro line will most likely be launched in June 2012.

At present, the Sofia Metro has only one operational line from the Obelya and Lyulin quarters in the northwest to the Mladost 1 quarter in the southeast. The second line will run from the Obelya and Nadezhda quarters in the north to the downtown quarter of Lozenets through the Central Railway Station and the Central Bus Station, with the first and second line crossing in the downtown.

(Sourced from www.novinite.com)