Bratislava Metro

Current view to unfinished metro corridor, Petržalka
Current view to unfinished metro station and tunnel, Petržalka
One of possible plans to lead the metro lines

Bratislava Metro is an unfinished/unrealized concept of a rapid transport system in Bratislava, Slovakia.

History

Soviet-type metro

New panel housing estates were built during Bratislava's growth in the 1970s and 1980s. According to communist praxis, it was decided to create a Soviet-style metro system, the second in Czechoslovakia. Similar to the metro, which connected the centre of Prague with Jižní Město, the Bratislava Metro in Bratislava would link Petržalka, a newer part of the city, with the old town on the other side of the Danube, using Czechoslovakian (later East German) trains. Construction started in 1985 from the south to the centre. The Janíkov Dvor Depot was to be located on the south of Petržalka.

Because of changes in the city's priorities, construction stopped after one year and was cancelled after the Velvet Revolution. Only the trunk of the railway corridor and bare buildings of the depot remain.

Light metro/VAL

Bratislava still needed a connection to the biggest housing estate in the country. The cost of the project was calculated to SKK 100 billion (about €330 million). In 1996, a less expensive variant VAL metro system was chosen, which had mostly been used in France. However, VAL came under criticism because it had never been used as a public transport system. It was criticised for its low passenger capacity. Development halted in 1998 when problems with finances emerged.

Light rail tram

It was eventually decided to replace the metro system with a Light rail tram, utilising the north-south planned trace for the metro. The track starts on the south of Petržalka through Starý Most to the city centre and terminates on the Šáfárikovo námestie. The cost of both the construction work and the purchasing of the tram cars is estimated to have cost 100-150 million Euros.

The planned start of the construction was in 2007, however, the first phase of trace (Šafárikovo nám.-Bosákova) was launched only in 2013.

See also

References

    External links

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