Two extra stops for Metro

The two new stops will be on Plac Konstytucji and Muranów. Originally, when the Metro was being built, there were plans to build the two stations, but they were left out of the project due to cost reasons. The management of City Transport (ZTM) and urban planners believe this was a mistake and Metro Warszawskie is now returning to the original plan, which will see the Metro stop much more frequently in the city center.

The details of the tender are hazy. According to Grzegorz Żurawski, a spokesperson for Metro Warszawskie, only an initial tender announcement has been published. No specific plans as to when the tender is going to be officially announced have been revealed.

This year's city budget does not account for the construction of two new Metro stations, but the city can still look for companies to build the facilities. This would mean the tenders would be settled at the beginning of next year and works could start in spring 2007. Each station is estimated to cost from zł.70-90 million.

The tender came as something of a surprise, as authorities had previously appeared to rule out major investments in the Metro. The underground had applied for EUR 86.7 (zł.342) million in EU funding, but the government subsequently excluded the Metro from a list of projects that were to get funding. The Metro's operators had hoped to double its length and introduce new lines that would see the underground stretch to Bemowo and Bródno in the next eight years. In a recent article in Gazeta Wyborcza, Michał Borowski, the chief architect of Warsaw, said that his vision of the city in 10 years' time included three Metro lines.

LM