What do we need to know about the Sofia metro - Useful tips and information

However, many people have complained about the lack of comprehensibility of public transport maps in Sofia, both in terms of the metro and bus or tram transport. The Metropolitan's website has not been updated for years.

Here are some useful facts, tips, and guidelines when traveling by Sofia metro:

Parking in the buffer parking of the Sofia metro

The buffer parking lots in the metro stations are:

• buffer parking at the metro station "Vasil Levski Stadium" The parking lot has 4 charging stations for electric cars.
• buffer parking metro station "James Boucher"
• buffer parking at the metro station "Beli Dunav" - "Beli Dunav" Nadezhda
• buffer parking at the metro station "Beli Dunav" - "Beli Dunav" Vrabnitsa
• buffer parking metro station "Tsarigradsko shose"

Tickets for the metro

Tickets for the metro will now be available for purchase with a smartphone. The project of the start-up company Tickey and Metropolitan EAD is a pilot and covers 3 of the key metro stations in Sofia - Serdika, Konstantin Velichkov, and Lyulin. Specially marked turnstiles with iBeacon sensors are installed in these places.

To use the service, passengers create their own profile in the application and enter their debit or credit card details with which to make payments. As they approach the turnstile, they receive a notification on their mobile devices to purchase a ticket, and the payment is finalized only after confirmation by the user. The process of purchasing and receiving the e-ticket is carried out with a few clicks in a secure environment in seconds, and the speed of the service is comparable to the validation of ordinary transport documents.

Prices of tickets and Sofia metro rail passes

Ticket for one trip

• Price BGN 1.60.
• The ticket can be purchased from special ticket machines or from the ticket offices of "Metropolitan", located at the entrances of each metro station.
• The ticket in question can be used to enter the metro within 30 minutes of its issuance.
• Its validation is carried out on the validators, which are located next to the barriers to the entrance to the subway.

Electronic metro card for 10 single trips.
Subway travel card

• Price BGN 12.
• The document in question can be purchased and loaded at the cash desks of "Metropolitan" EAD, located at the entrances of each metro station.
• The purchase of the electronic cards for one-time trips in question costs BGN 1.
• Charging 10 one-time trips costs 12 leva.
• This is one of the most advantageous options for traveling by subway if you do not travel more than 3 times in one day by subway, as one trip costs BGN 1.20 and not BGN 1.60, as in the case of one-time tickets. travel.
• The charging of all electronic metro cards is carried out by means of the validators which are located next to the barriers for entry to the metro.
• With each charge, the charged trips from the card are reduced by one.

One-day, three-day, and monthly transport card.

Unlike electronic metro cards for 10 trips, which can be purchased and loaded from the counters located at each metro station.

The one-day, three-day, and monthly card for all lines of public transport in Sofia can be issued only in the specialized points for issuing transport documents, owned by the Center for Urban Mobility EOOD.

The Sofia metro has accessibility

The Sofia metro has accessibility for people with disabilities, and elevators have been built in all stations. In all 34 metro stations, there are elevators for people with disabilities, and in the newly built 27 stations, at least two entrances with elevators are provided.

140 cameras are located on the platforms

140 cameras monitor the safety of passengers in metro stations. An average of ten is mounted on each platform. The picture of them is handed over both to the police officers on duty in the metro stations themselves, to the traffic leaders, and to the Central Dispatching Point. The dispatching point monitors the transport safety at the metro stations. Often, when passengers cross the yellow restrictive lane before the train arrives, a voice message is triggered urging them to stand in a safe place. In addition to the cameras, around-the-clock police presence is provided in each metro station, and there are two uniformed officers at peak hours.