Metro carries quarter of commuters in Bucharest, wants to reach half

The Bucharest metro company Metrorex transported over 89 million passengers in the first half of this year, after registering over 170 million passengers during the whole of 2011. The Bucharest metro network, which is 33 years old, has 51 stations and 70 kilometers, covering only 3.7 percent of the entire public transport network in Bucharest. The metro is however one of the preferred means of transport for commuters, as it takes over around a quarter of the passenger traffic within the public transport system. On average, 70,000 people use the metro daily. With the planned expansions, the Bucharest metro company estimates it will carry around half of the commuters in Bucharest, while the length of the network will go up to 160 km. The percentage of Bucharest commuters using the the metro system is, however, quite high.Less than 20 percent of commuters in London use the world's oldest metro system, the London Underground, according to the UK's Office for National Statistics. The fourth metro line will be expanded with two new stations, Laminorului and Lac Străuleşti, with work already underway, while a new segment will be added to this line, between the North Railway Station and the Progresul railway. The fifth metro line will come next, connecting Drumul Taberei to the downtown area, with work having already started. The sixth line will connect the airport to the city, and the seventh will connect the West to the East of the city, from Bragadiru to Voluntari. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Metrorex)