Transport minister Ștefan Ovidiu Popa announced on Wednesday, 21 October, on Facebook, that the TBM machines have started boring tunnels on the north section of Metro Line 6, towards Henri Coandă Airport. This is the start of boring, not the inauguration of the metro and not an opening date for passengers.

The Metrorex statement, carried by Bursa, is more precise: the first TBM, “Sfânta Parascheva”, made the first rotation of the cutterhead today, on Line 1, from the launch shaft at the future Bruxelles station. The second, “Sfânta Ecaterina”, will dig Line 2. The names follow the saints’ tradition, not a blessing of a route already open to traffic.

North-section boring goes in two stages. First, from Bruxelles towards Tokyo, the link with the south section. Then the machines will be relaunched from Bruxelles towards Otopeni Airport. Popa spoke of “the section between Tokyo station and Otopeni airport”; today’s direction, according to Metrorex, is Bruxelles–Tokyo.

The north has six stations: Washington, Paris, Bruxelles, Otopeni, Ion I.C. Brătianu and Aeroport Otopeni. The minister gave physical progress of 34% in the north and 78% in the south, also with six stations. The line, about 14 kilometres, is estimated for the first part of 2029. An estimate, not a timetable.

“Sfânta Parascheva” is an EPB TBM, 103 metres with the backup train, 602 tonnes, a 6.57-metre cutterhead. Average advance is estimated at 14 metres a day. The figures are from the statement, not a result measured after today’s shift.

Popa said he is starting his term on the site and that the ministry must provide the money on time. That is a duty he assumed, not a payment made today. The tunnel is not finished and the metro is not running. A start of boring, not an inauguration.

Image: Cristian Bortes, Henri Coanda terminal, Otopeni, 4 March 2013, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons; the airport, not a photograph of the 21 October 2026 TBM.

Sources consulted: Metro tunnel boring has started on the north section of Line 6 - Mediafax; TBM launch: excavation starts on the NORTH section of Metro Line 6 - Bursa / Metrorex, 21 October 2026.