The first of eight new trains for the Sofia Metro was accepted in the city of Pilsen at the end of July, after a joint meeting between representatives of the Czech manufacturer and specialists from Metropolitan EAD, and on this basis technical tests at the VUZ test site in Velim, Czech Republic, will begin.

The trains will replace the oldest Russian trains running on lines 1, 2 and 4 and will help reduce the interval for movement on the second metro line after the commissioning of the new Pancho Vladigerov metro station, located between the Slivnitsa and Obelya stations, the capital's Metropolitan announced.

The new train consists of four carriages, with a maximum length of 79.1 m and an empty weight of 116,300 kg. The maximum design speed of the train is 90 km/h.

The interior of the train is designed as a single-space, fully walkable between the individual carriages, with a capacity for 762 passengers and separate places for people with disabilities, strollers and bicycles. To ensure the comfort and safety of passengers, each carriage has a new generation air conditioning installation and a video surveillance system, the video recording of which is stored in a module with energy-independent memory for a period of at least 20 days.

After the completion of the tests in the Czech Republic, the train will be transported to Bulgaria for tests in real conditions on lines 1 and 4, and the manufacturer is expected to be ready with the second train in early October this year. І BGNES