Bucharest's largest expansion in decades: M6 to Henri Coandă Airport — 14.2 km, 12 stations, €1.85 billion — is tunnelling now for a 2028–29 opening; an 11-km southern extension broke ground in February 2026; and Gara de Nord remains Romania's railway heart.
Bucharest is one of Europe's last capitals without an airport rail link — M6 fixes it. Two phases: 1 Mai–Tokyo (6.6 km, 6 stations, completing 2026–27) then Tokyo–Airport (7.6 km, 6 stations, 2027–28). TBMs launched in 2025; progress held through the January 2026 freeze. Twelve new trains will run the line, sharing track with M4 into Gara de Nord.
Meanwhile the legacy network (M1–M5, 78 km) carries 600–800,000 daily, and February 2026 opened an entirely new front: an 11-km southern extension — the system's biggest growth decade since the 1980s.
The 1872 North Station is Romania's rail hub: international services to Vienna, Budapest (the night train), Chișinău, Sofia and Istanbul, domestic InterCity to Brașov, Cluj and Constanța, and — until M6 opens — the airport train: ~20–25 minutes to Otopeni, the traveller's best transfer.
CFR's modernisation is slow but funded: the Bucharest–Brașov corridor upgrades and station renewals are the visible layer; the Brasov–Simeria high-speed study points further.
Bucharest's rail story is the airport link finally arriving — forty years after the metro opened. For the traveller: until 2029, the Gara de Nord–airport train is the move (frequent, 25 minutes, cheap); inside the city, M2 is the tourist spine (Victoriei–Universitate–Unirii). Watch out: metro and bus tickets are separate systems. For the watcher: M6's phasing risk is real — section one lands 2026–27, but the airport section is the harder dig; watch TBM progress and PNRR milestones. If M6 holds 2029, OTP's 30-million terminal gets its landside spine and Bucharest joins the rail-linked club.
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