A new metro station has opened in Bulgaria's capital Sofia on Wednesday.

Vitosha station, in the southern neighborhood of Hladilnika, at the junction of Cherni Vrah Blvd and Srebarna Str, will be connected to the Blue line (M2)'s James Bourchier station.

It will provide access to the National Palace of Culture (NDK) and Serdika station, which also has a link to M1, or the Red Line.

Preliminary estimates suggest Vitosha station will increase the number of passengers using Sofia Metro on a daily basis to 350 000, up from from 335 000, Stoyan Bratoev, CEO of the company running the metro, has told Focus.

The new station will also help reduce traffic in Hladilnika, where jams have been common for years, especially at the junction of Cherni Vrah Blvd and Srebarna Str, he has added.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has said at the opening ceremony that the current 1.3 km section was worth EUR 21 M, much cheaper than in the rest of the EU where a km of metro lines and tunnels would normally cost above EUR 100 M..

A third metro line is meanwhile under construction, with twelve stations expected to be finished by mid-2019.

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