Business 3 min read By Alice Ashford
Škoda Group Wins Contract to Supply 16 Metro Trains to Sofia
Czech manufacturer Škoda Group has won a contract worth nearly €149 million to supply 16 metro trains to the Sofia operator, all to be delivered within two years.
Czech manufacturer Škoda Group has won the tender to supply 16 metro trains to Metropoliten EAD, the Sofia metro operator, in a contract worth close to €149 million. The equivalent in Czech crowns is approximately 4 billion. All 16 sets must be delivered within two years, and the contract was awarded in December 2025, after a tender procedure in which the Czech company was declared the winner.
The contract is being carried out in two lots of eight trains each. The first lot entered into force in September 2026, and in October the operator exercised its option for the second lot of eight trains. The operator has secured funding for the first lot, which allows implementation of the contract to begin without budget-related delays. The available information, however, does not specify the exact delivery schedule for each lot, so the two-year deadline remains the only official benchmark.
The trains consist of four carriages and are about 80 metres long. They can carry up to 762 passengers and are equipped with air conditioning, as well as dedicated spaces for wheelchairs, pushchairs and bicycles. The design speed is 90 kilometres per hour, and the sets include an automatic train protection system with automatic speed control. Regenerative braking returns energy to the power supply network, a feature that reduces the trains' energy consumption. The vehicles are specially designed for the surface sections of the Sofia metro, where clearance spaces and operating conditions differ from those of underground lines.
This is not the first order of this type for the Bulgarian capital. Eight trains were ordered in 2023, and all are now in commercial operation, giving the operator direct experience with the model supplied by the Czech manufacturer. Škoda also supplies trolleybuses for Sofia, which strengthens the company's presence in the city's urban transport market and makes Bulgaria a steady partner for the industrial group.
Škoda Group employs approximately 10,000 people and has factories in the Czech Republic, Finland and Turkey. In 2025, the company reported revenues of €1.45 billion and EBITDA of €143 million, figures that illustrate the scale of its industrial activity. The group is part of PPF Group, a private investment holding active in 25 countries, and the Sofia contract fits into the strategy of expanding production of rail and urban vehicles in the markets of Central and South-Eastern Europe.
Source: economedia.ro
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