Bucharest Metro Line M3

M3 (20 km (12.4 mi))[1] is one of the 4 lines of the Bucharest Metro. M3 Line runs from Anghel Saligny to Preciziei. It is the east-west line of the system.

Line M3
Preciziei Păcii Gorjului Lujerului Politehnica Line M1 Eroilor Izvor Piaţa Unirii M2 Timpuri Noi Mihai Bravu Dristor M1 Nicolae Grigorescu Line M1 1 Decembrie 1918 Nicolae Teclu Anghel Saligny

History

The first part of the M3 was from Eroilor to Preciziei (at the time known as Industriilor) along with the line to Industriilor depot (nearby the ITB Militari depot), some kilometres west of the station itself. This section was not a line on its own, but rather a branch of the M1, and it opened on 19 August 1983. During the communist period the 'M3' was the Gara de Nord - Dristor 2 section of what is today the M1.[2] Construction work on another branch, the one from Leontin Sălăjan to Linia de Centură began in 1988, but the tunnels were flooded and the work was halted in 1993.

Due to the very large gap between Pacii and Lujerului (then known as Armata Poporului) construction of Gorjului started. It was opened in two stages; in 1994 the westbound platform opened and in 1998 the eastbound platform was opened.

In the mid 2000s the route of the M3 was shortened from Pantelimon - Industriilor to Eroilor - Industriilor and the M3 became a shuttle service, similar to the M4 today. In 2008 the long-overdue section from Nicolae Grigorescu to Anghel Saligny (at the time known as Linia de Centura) was finally also opened as a shuttle, its construction work having restarted in 2004. Because a line composed of two unconnected shuttles was very impractical, on 4 July 2009 the two shuttles were linked sharing tracks with the M1 between Eroilor and Nicolae Grigorescu, forming the M3 we know today.

Rolling Stock

The M3 currently uses Bombardier Movia trains, however until 2014 Astra IVA trains were also used. After the arrival of new CAF trains and the migration of Movia trains from the M2 to the M3 was complete the old trains were no longer needed.

The first Movia trains were introduced on the M3 in 2009 when through services from Preciziei to Anghel Saligny commenced. After that IVA trains became less and less frequent until they were gone in 2014. The only line which still uses IVA trains is the M4.

An old IVA train at Lujerului.

Name changes

Station	Previous name(s)	Years
Preciziei	Industriilor	1983–2009
Lujerului	Armata Poporului	1983–2009
Nicolae Teclu	Policolor	2008–2009
Anghel Saligny	Linia de Centură	2008–2009

Extensions

An extension from Păcii towards the A1 Motorway and the Western Industrial Park is planned for 2030.[3]

References

1. M3 Line
2. Ovenden, Mark (2007). Transit Maps of the World. p. 83.
3. Vlad Ignat. "Păianjenul Metrorex schimbă harta Capitalei. Bucureştenii se mută în subteran, din 2030" [Metrorex's Web Project changes the map of Bucharest. Bucharest moves underground by 2030]. Adevărul (in Romanian). Retrieved 2014-05-07.