Knyaginya Maria Luiza Metro Station

Knyaginya Maria Luiza Metro Station (Bulgarian: Метростанция „Княгиня Мария Луиза“) is the 21st station to open on the Sofia Metro in Bulgaria. It is situated near the Nadezhda road junction in the northern part of Sofia, at the intersection of Maria Luiza Boulevard and Gen. Stoletov Blvd. It opened on 31 August 2012 and is also known as the fifth station on the M2 line of the metro (station 5-II). It was also the first station on the path of the TBM, which worked on the section between stations 5-II and 9-II (part of phase I of the metro extension project), entirely constructed by the Turkish company Doğuş Construction, part of Doğuş Holding.[1] The station is a shallow triple-span station with two rows of concrete and steel columns. It serves two central tracks and two side platforms. There are four street entrances, two on each side of the boulevard after which the station is named. They lead to a central vestibule, directly above the station.[2][3][4]

Knyaginya Maria Luiza
Location	116 Maria Luiza Blvd., Sofia 1233, Bulgaria
Coordinates	42°42′50.89″N 23°18′47.12″E
Owned by	Sofia Municipality
Platforms	side
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	triple-span
Platform levels	2
Other information
Station code	2989; 2990
History
Opened	31 August 2012
Previous names	Banishora
Services
Preceding station   Sofia Metro   Following station Central Railway toward Vitosha M2 line Han Kubrat toward Obelya

M2 and M4 lines
All stations are wheelchair accessible
Moderno predgradie (proposed) Obelya Lomsko shose cont. as M2 cont. as M4 Slivnitsa Beli Dunav Lyulin Nadezhda Zapaden Park Han Kubrat Vardar Knyaginya Maria Luiza Konstantin Velichkov Central Railway Opalchenska Lavov most ↖Serdika↘ ↙Serdika II↗ NDK SU St. Kliment Ohridski European Union Vasil Levski Stadium James Bourchier Joliot-Curie Vitosha G.M.Dimitrov Musagenitsa Mladost 1 M1 Aleksandar Malinov Mladost 3 Akademik Aleksandar Teodorov - Balan Inter Expo Center – Tsarigradsko shose Business Park Sofia Druzhba Iskarsko shose Sofiyska Sveta gora Sofia Airport
Detailed track map line end -8' Vitosha   ↑Opened 2016↑ -6' James Bourchier -4' European Union built 1981 opened 2012 Perlovska -2' NDK built 1981 opened 2012 Serdika M1 to Slivnitsa/Business Park Sofia   0' Serdika II Vladayska 2' Lavov most 3' Central Railway Station 5' Knyaginya Maria Luiza BDŽ National Rail to Pernik-Kulata/Kyustendil BDŽ National Rail to Dragoman/Radomir/Bankya 00' Future extension   00' Ilyantsi branch Lev Tolstoy Svoboda Iliyansko shose Ilyantsi Ilyanysi branch end 7' Han Kubrat Suhodolska 9' Nadezhda 11' Beli Dunav 13' Lomsko shose ↑Opened 2012↑   15' Obelya Kakach Moderno predgradie (proposed) National Rail to Dragoman/Radomir/Bankya   ↑Opened 2003↑ RED line to Depot   ↓Opened 1998↓ -13' Slivnitsa -11' Lyulin -8' Zapaden Park Suhodolska National Rail to Pernik-Kulata/Kyustendil -6' Vardar -4' Konstantin Velichkov   ↓Opened 1999↓ Vladayska -2' Opalchenska   ↓Opened 2000↓ 0' Serdika Serdika II M2 to Obelya/Vitosha     ↓Opened 2009↓ 3' Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski Perlovska 5' Vasil Levski Stadium 8' Joliot-Curie WTC Novachitsa 10' G.M.Dimitrov 12' Musagenitsa Darvenishka 14' Mladost 1 00' M1 to Business Park   00'   ↓Opened 2015↓   16' Aleksandar Malinov 18' Akademik Aleksandar Teodorov - Balan Banishka 20' Business Park Sofia Mladost branch end 00'   ↓Opened 2012↓   16' Mladost 3 18' Inter Expo Center – Tsarigradsko shose   ↓Opened 2015↓ 20' Druzhba 23' Iskarsko shose National Rail to Ihtiman/Karlovo 25' Sofiyska Sveta gora 27' Sofia Airport Terminal 2 Airport branch end

Interchange with other public transport[5]

West side:

• City Bus service: 77, 82, 85, 86, 101, 285

East side:

• Tramway service: 1, 6, 7, 12
• Trolleybus service: 1, 5
• City Bus service: 60, 74, 77, 82, 85, 86, 101, 285

Location

The station is located at 116 Maria Luiza Boulevard. As development to the north is restricted by the ground-level mainline railway service passing east to west, this station serves mostly areas located to its south. It serves mainly the residential district of Banishora.

To the south:

• Fifth General Hospital[6]
• Sofia County Cancer Center[7]
• John Paul Hematologic Diseases Hospital[8]
• Zora Eye Clinic[9]
• Nadezhda Trolleybus Depot[10]

To the north:

• The National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC) Head Office[11]
• Tsar Boris III National Transportation General Hospital,[12] owned by MTITC

Naming

Initially, in the project the station was named Banishora for the neighbourhood it serves. Afterwards, the official name was chosen to be in honour of Maria Luiza, Princess consort of Bulgaria, as one of four stations constructed under Maria Luiza Boulevard in Sofia, the other three being Central Railway Station, Lavov most, and Serdika II.

Construction

Construction began as part of phase I of the Sofia Metro Extension Project, funded by the ERDF under Priority Axis 3 of OP Transport 2007-2013, Improvement of Intermodality for Passenger and Freight, and the National Budget in the amount of €185,190,000.[13] Phase I consisted in the construction of 4 stations and interconnecting tunnels and the inclusion of two stations built in the 1980s, plus another newly built station with national funding only. The TBM boring began a few hundred metres to the north-west of the station on 6 April 2010.[14][15] It was decided to bore a single tunnel with a double track with a diameter of 9.4 metres which called for high ceiling stations for the TBM to pass through. Maria Luiza Station was the first station on its path and the TBM reached the station in the first week of October, 2010.[16] By the end of November 2010 the station was constructively entirely completed.[17] By 21 May 2012 the station was fully completed.[18]

The station is a two-level underground station with the tracks and platforms on the lower level and a vestibule with turnstile gates and pedestrian underpasses on the upper level. It is a triple-span station with two rows of columns, one on each side-platform. Both tracks run in the centre and are powered by a third rail +825V. The platforms are 104 metres long. The station is accessible by elevators on all levels from all four entrances at ground level. Escalators are installed on all levels (including ground level) for ease of access going upwards. The main colours of the station are pale green and beige. The architectural project is credited to the Turkish company Doğuş Construction, part of Doğuş Holding.[1][19]

The station was inaugurated as part of a grand opening ceremony for the inauguration of the entire second BLUE line on 31 August 2012 in the presence of Bulgaria's PM Boyko Borisov and the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso.[20][21][22]

Gallery

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See also

• Sofia Metro

References

1. "Doğuş İnşaat". Dogusinsaat.com.tr. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
2. "OP Transport and development". Metropolitan.bg. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
3. "Inforegio: EU Regional Policy - Project examples - Projects". Ec.europa.eu. Archived from the original on 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
4. "Sofia metro underground railway second line official opening on August 31". The Sofia Globe. 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
5. "Urban transport - Route network". Sofiatraffic.bg. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
6. "Контакти". 5 mbal. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
7. BGMEDICINE Design. "Кой да ме лекува, къде да се лекувам, медицинска база данни". Bgmedicine. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
8. "Хематологична болница Йоан Павел". Hematologia-joanpavel.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
9. "Очна болница Зора - Специализирана болница за активно лечение на очни болести. Очни медицински центрове Светлина и Зора". Bolnica-zora.com. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
10. "Trolley Depot "Nadejda" | Sofia Public Electrical Transport Company JSC". Elektrotransportsf.com. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
11. "National Railway Infrastructure Company - contacts". Rail-infra.bg. Archived from the original on 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
12. "НМТБ ::: Национална многопрофилна транспортна болница "Цар Борис III" - София". Nmtb-sofia.eu. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
13. "PM Boyko Borissov Inspects Sofia Underground Extension Project". News • Operational Programme on Transport 2007-2013. Optransport.bg. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
14. "Tunnel Boring Machine Begins Operating within Sofia Underground Extension Project". News • Operational Programme on Transport 2007-2013. Optransport.bg. 6 April 2010. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
15. "Започна работата на тунелопробивната машина по проекта за разширение на метрото в София". Metropolitan.bg. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
16. "European Commission Representatives Visit Construction Sites of Second Line". News • Operational Programme on Transport 2007-2013. Optransport.bg. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
17. "P.M. Borisov and Ministers Moskovski and Donchev, with the President of E.C. Barroso, visited the 'Ancient cultural complex Serdica'". News • Operational Programme on Transport 2007-2013. Optransport.bg. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
18. Тунелите и метростанциите са почти 100% Archived 2013-02-18 at Archive.today. Stroitelstvo.info. 21 May 2012.
19. Рецептата е добра дисциплина, постоянна работа и контрол върху изпълнителите. Stroitelstvo.info. 30 January 2012.
20. http://metropolitan.bg/bg/news/view/93.html
21. "Bulgaria: Sofia Expands Its Metro, Barroso Pleased". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
22. "Jose Manuel Barroso: Sofia subway's new line is an example of what can be expected from Europe". Focus-fen.net. FOCUS Information Agency. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-28.

External links

Media related to Knyaginya Maria Luiza Metro Station at Wikimedia Commons

• Sofia Metropolitan
• More info in Bulgarian
• SofiaMetro@UrbanRail
• Sofia Urban Mobility Center
• Sofia Metro station projects
• Sofia Metropolitan
• vijsofia.eu
• Project Slide 1
• Project Slide 2
• Project Slide 3