The Georgian government and Tbilisi City Hall are involved in the development of an above-ground metro system.
At the first stage, the ground-based metro will connect the Samgori metro station with the Lilo Market and Tbilisi Airport. Construction work will begin at the end of 2019. The modernisation of the Samgori metro station will be carried out and it will be connected with the new metro line as well.
Between 2021-2022, seven new metro stations and a fully renovated Samgori metro station will be gradually put into operation.
"About 8 new stations will be built within this project and we will start implementing these projects by the end of 2019. $90 million will be spent on it, of which about $30 million is the cost of the train wagons and the rest of the money will be spent on arranging the infrastructure. The new stations of Tbilisi Metro will be able to serve 200,000 passengers,” Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said.
"This project will be implemented by using the existing infrastructure of Tbilisi Bypass Railway - a project that aimed at building a railway around the city, the construction for which began in 2010 but was suspended due to “serious engineering defects," Georgia's Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze said.
The PM added that they will use the infrastructure of the bypass railway to build a new metro station from Samgori to Lilo. "At the same time, the Tbilisi agglomeration is being developed and this new line will help us to extend towards the direction of Rustavi. This is a historic project," Agenda.ge cited Bakhtadze as saying.
At the second stage of development, the metro is planned to be connected to Rustavi through an above ground metro.
