The story
The first proposals for 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 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 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 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 Station); green – in Grozăvești), and an open plan. No station 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, at a rate only surpassed by that of the Mexico City Metro. Two more lines were opened during this decade, M3 in 1983, and M2 in 1986.
After 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 with different colour schemes. The fourth metro line, M4, for which construction was started in September 1989 (shortly before the Revolution), was finally opened in 2000. After Romania joined the European Union in 2007, EU funds helped with the expansion of 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 is also larger than some other metro systems within the European Union, 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).
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The first line, M1, opened on 19 November 1979, running from Semănătoarea (now Petrache Poenaru) to Timpuri Noi. It had a length of 8.1 kilometres (5.0 mi) with 6 stations. Following this, more lines and several extensions were opened:
28 December 1981: M1 Timpuri Noi – Republica; 9.2 kilometres (5.7 mi), 6 stations
19 August 1983: M1 (now M3) Branch line Eroilor – Industriilor (now Preciziei); 8.2 kilometres (5.1 mi), 4 stations (Gorjului added later)
22 December 1984: M1 Semănătoarea (Petrache Poenaru) – Crângași; 0.97 kilometres (0.60 mi), 1 station
24 January 1986: M2 Piața Unirii (Union Square) – Depoul IMGB (now Berceni); 9.96 kilometres (6.19 mi), 6 stations (Tineretului and Constantin Brâncoveanu added later)
6 April 1986: M2 Tineretului; 1 infill station
24 October 1987: M2 Piața Unirii (Union Square) – Pipera; 8.72 kilometres (5.42 mi), 5 stations (Piața Romană = Roman Square, added later)
24 December 1987: M1 Crângași – Gara de Nord 1 (North Train Station 1); 2.83 kilometres (1.76 mi), 1 station (Basarab added later)
28 November 1988: M2 Piața Romană (Roman Square); 1 infill station
5 December 1988: M2 Constantin Brâncoveanu; 1 infill station
17 August 1989: M3 (now M1) Gara de Nord 1 (North Train Station 1) – Dristor 2; 7.8 kilometres (4.8 mi), 6 stations
May 1991: M1 Republica – Pantelimon; 1.43 kilometres (0.89 mi), 1 station (single track, operational on a special schedule)
26 August 1992: M1 Basarab; 1 infill station
31 August 1994: M3 Gorjului; 1 infill station (westbound platform only; eastbound platform opened in 1998)
1 March 2000: M4 Gara de Nord 2 (North Train Station 2) – 1 Mai (First of May); 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi), 4 stations
20 November 2008: M3 branch Nicolae (Nicolas) Grigorescu 2 – Linia de Centură (now Anghel Saligny), 4.75 kilometres (2.95 mi), 4 stations
1 July 2011: M4 1 Mai – Parc Bazilescu, 2.62 kilometres (1.63 mi), 2 stations
31 March 2017: M4 Parc Bazilescu – Străulești, 1.89 kilometres (1.17 mi), 2 stations
15 September 2020: M5 Râul Doamnei / Valea Ialomiței – Eroilor 2 6.87 kilometres (4.27 mi), 10 stations
15 November 2023: M2 Berceni – Tudor Arghezi, 1,6 kilometers (1 mi.), 1 station
Expansions in the near future (estimative):
2027: M6 1 Mai (First of May) - Tokyo, 6.6 kilometres (4.1 mi), 6 stations
2028: M6 Tokyo - Otopeni Airport, 7.6 kilometres (4.7 mi), 6 stations
2030: M5 Eroilor 2 - Piața Iancului (Iancu's Square) 2, 5,4 kilometers (2 mi.), 6 stations
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), 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 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, 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.
From Wikipedia’s article on Metrorex, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4