Metropolitan, the municipally-owned operator of the Bulgarian capital's subway system, said it has opened a 800,000 levs ($473,900/409,000 euro) tender for design of a section connecting Lyulin station, in the western part of the city, to Sofia ring road. The project envisages the design of a 1.6 km subway section with two stations, Metropolitan said in a tender notice on Wednesday. The tender also includes the design of an underground parking, located between the two stations. Earlier this month, the European Investment Bank (EIB) said that Sofia is seeking a 22 million euro loan to finance the construction of the second stage of the city's subway line 3, which envisages the construction of a 3.8 km twin-track subway section and four stations. Sofia's subway line 3 is expected to be a total of 16 km long, with 19 stations. When completed, it will bring the total Sofia subway network to 56 km of lines and 53 stations.(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)