Tbilisi’s Varketili metro station will return to its full operating schedule - from 06:00 to 00:00 - starting March 16. Although the station fully reopens to passengers, rehabilitation works are still ongoing.
According to Tbilisi City Hall, the major part of construction has been completed, allowing the city to cancel the temporary N174 shuttle bus that transported passengers to Samgori station during the works.
To date, most repairs have been carried out on the lower platform. Tbilisi Transport Company reports that finishing works on the platform and the inclined escalator tunnel are complete, corroded ceiling surfaces have been treated, and cavities filled with special mixtures to prevent water leakage.
However, full rehabilitation is not yet finished. The upper vestibule still requires major structural reinforcement of damaged reinforced-concrete beams. The project design phase is currently underway, after which the remaining construction will begin.
City Hall says the entire renovation project will be completed this summer.
Varketili’s troubled reconstruction dates back to 2016. Although a major renovation was completed in 2017, the station’s suspended ceiling collapsed in January 2018. A new contract was signed in 2022, but later terminated due to the contractor’s non-performance. In 2023 the city signed a simplified procurement contract worth GEL 13.4 million with Bada Construction, later increased to GEL 14.7 million, plus an additional GEL 1.8 million for tunnel repairs – bringing total project cost to GEL 16.5 million.
The latest contract deadline, originally September 2024, has been extended multiple times and now runs until March 31, 2026.
