The planning of Sofia's metro network began in the late 1960s, as in most large Eastern European cities. The plans were basically completed by 1974. Construction started on 6 March 1978, but faced a number of economic, political and other difficulties, and the opening of the metro was consequently delayed. Finally, towards the end of the 1980s, the light at the end of the tunnel was beginning to show (literally:)), and the time had come to order the trains.
The choice (if there was one) was of course the Soviet Metrovagonmas factory, from which 12 4-car trains of the current series, the later iconic 81-717/714, were ordered. These short trains, just 80 metres long, caused much controversy then and since, but they did save on station lengths, resulting in considerable savings. The trains were manufactured by the Soviet factory in 1989 and 1990, and all the trains arrived in the latter year.
So the metro is almost finished, the trains have arrived, what is missing? Of course, a serious financial crisis! The fall of the soviet regime brought this to Bulgaria, so the construction of the metro stopped immediately and the trains were basically just a decoration. Construction was only able to restart in 1995, and the first metro line in the city finally opened on 28 January 1998. The trains were therefore already 8 years old when they first entered service.
The Russian factory made some modifications to the vehicles to meet the needs of Sofia, so that the control cars were given the type number 81-717.4 and the carriages the type number 81-714.4. It is interesting to note that, due to the four-car trainsets, the same number of both versions, 24-24 units, were delivered to the city. No more of this type arrived afterwards, and for the later line extensions and new lines, other types of trains were purchased.
In the late 2010s, the transport company decided to modernise the classic trains. The contract to refurbish the metro cars was awarded to the original manufacturer, Metrovagonmash. Two trains were first sent to Russia on an experimental basis and, after refurbishment, returned to Sofia in 2019. They were refurbished in exactly the same way as their counterparts in Budapest, and their type designations were changed to 81-717.4K and 81-714.4K.
The experience was positive, so it was decided to refurbish all of the old metro cars. A total of 8 trainsets were completed by 2022, when the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out and the resulting sanctions made it impossible to refurbish the remaining 4 trainsets. Since then, no new contractor has been found.
TransPhoto
София, 81-714.4 № 5014, 81-714.4 № 5015, 81-717.4 № 1014, 81-717.4 № 1015, 81-717.4 № 1011, 81-717.4 № 1012, 81-714.4 № 5011, 81-714.4 № 5012, 81-714.4 № 5010, 81-714.4 № 5013, 81-717.4 № 1010, 81-717.4 № 1013
Мишкольц Дата: Апрель 2025 г.
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