On the Kiev Metro there is a curious section of tunnel that doesn’t run underground – instead the concrete tube is carried over a deep railway cutting by a bridge, only to head straight back underground.
Called the Гаванський шляхопровід (Harbour Overpass) the bridge was completed in 1971 to carry the M1 Sviatoshynsko–Brovarska line of the Kiev Metro inside a concrete tunnel over the Kyiv-Volynsky – Pochayna mainline railway, with the four eastbound lanes of Проспект Перемоги (Prospect Peremohy) passing over the top.
But for passengers on the metro, the Harbour Overpass is a non-event – the concrete tube means trains pass between Nyvky (Нивки) and Beresteiska (Берестейська) stations in the dark, with nothing to suggest they have momentarily returned to ground level.
Work on the station began in the early-1990s as part of the northern extension of the M3 Syretsko–Pecherska line, but due to the lack of funds and indecision about the ground level entrance to the station at Lviv Square, work on the station stopped.
The metro line through the station opened in 1996, but the station lays empty today, the two platform tunnels and central hall of ‘three-vault deep pylon” design visible to passengers onboard passing trains. Access to the station is sometimes granted, with one notable use being a 2013 fashion show held by Ukrainian brand “Obrani”.
Various plans have been floated to complete the station, the most recent listing a 2018 completion date. This would require the construction of an escalator tunnel to the surface, station buildings at ground level, and fitout of the incomplete platforms.
Теличка (Telychka)
Теличка (Telychka) is the second ghost station on the Kiev Metro.
Work on the station began in the early-1990s as part of a southern extension of the M3 Syretsko–Pecherska line, but due to the industrial nature of the area the decision was made to only build the shell of a station. Of Колонная станция мелкого заложения (shallow column station) design, two flanking platforms were provided, easily visible to passengers of passing trains.
Various proposals have been made to turn the shell into a finished station, but all have been dependant on the redevelopment of the surrounding industrial area as a new residential precinct.
Герцена (Herzen)
Герцена (Herzen) is the least developed of the Kiev Metro ghost stations.
The construction of the station began in the mid-1990s as part of a northern extension of the M3 Syretsko–Pecherska line, under the working title of Заго́рівська (Zagorovskaya). The economic downturn lead to progress stalling, with the decision made to abandon the provision of a station at the site. Trains commenced passing through in 2000 with the extension to Дорогожичи (Dorohozhychi) station.
Today the only sign of the station is a ventilation shaft provided at the site, along with a traction power substation.
You’ve got to hand it to Russia – decades of communism haven’t affected their ability to get people to buy useless crap, if these billboards along the Volga River in Nizhny Novgorod are anything to go by.
‘High returns’ from «Сбербанк» (Sberbank).
Credit cards from «Райффайзенбанк» (Raiffeisenbank).
And ice skates at «реал,-Гипермаркет» (Real Hypermarket).
Exiting via the gift shop is something you expect to do at a museum – but what about at a church? However when I paid a visit to the Church of the Savior on Blood in Saint Petersburg, that is exactly what happened.
The church is best known for it’s mosaics – over 7500 square meters worth.
Stretching from floor to ceiling.
Souvenir stalls line the entrance to the church.
But the gift shop inside the church itself was what really surprised me.
On October 30, 1930, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to close the church. During the Second World War when many people were starving due to the Siege of Leningrad by Nazi German military forces, the church was used as a temporary morgue for those who died in combat and from starvation and illness.
After the war, the church was used as a warehouse for vegetables, leading to the sardonic name of Saviour on Potatoes.
In July 1970, management of the church passed to Saint Isaac’s Cathedral and it was used as a museum. The proceeds from the Cathedral funded the restoration of the church. It was reopened in August 1997, after 27 years of restoration, but has not been reconsecrated and does not function as a full-time place of worship.
Inflight magazines are a common sight whenever you fly, but the Russian Railways also have give their passengers something to read on long train journeys – inhouse magazine «Саквояж СВ».
«Саквояж» is the Russian word for a leather travel bag – an related to what in the west is called a ‘carpet bag‘.
The «ЖД Медиа» (Railway Media) describes the magazine as such.
“Саквояж СВ” is the first in the country ground-based full-color full-fledged on-board magazine, distributed on the trains of OJSC “RZD”. Magazine Саквояж СВ is distributed in all first class carriages (individual copies for each passenger), as well as sleeping cars (one copy per table) of RZD long-distance trains. It is a bright monthly publication in the style of life-style and covers all aspects of life. The magazine allows you to waste time traveling and find useful information for passengers.
Circulation: about 400,000 copies
Published: monthly
Columns of leading journalists
Author’s columns set the style for the whole magazine. Leading Russian and foreign journalists share their thoughts with the readers about the most important issues of the present.
The most interesting novelties
Famous music journalists, film critics, and also commentators of the world of engineering and automotive industry talk about the latest releases and novelties.
Travel, city and country materials
Stories about the most famous railway stations and stations, detailed guides to cities and countries. Qualitative photo-reports about life in Russia and abroad.
Biographies of celebrities
The life path of famous people with all the turns, ups and downs. Stories about compatriots who succeeded abroad. Collections of citations of celebrities of the past.
Cognitive and popular science materials
Everything is new from the world of science and technology. Anything that will seriously change our life in the future and changed it in the past.
Interview
Actual characters of our time – filmmakers, actors, musicians, writers and politicians – talk with correspondents of the magazine “Саквояж СВ”.
Prose
Stories of famous writers, written specifically for the magazine “Саквояж СВ”.
The railway along the Black Sea coast linking Sochi to the rest of Russia was also upgraded.
With a second track being built alongside the existing, doubling the number of trains that could run.
And after the games?
After every Olympic Games comes the obligatory visit to the abandoned games village – in the case of Sochi 2014 nothing has changed, with the Adler–Krasnaya Polyana railway that links it to downtown Sochi now seeing a handful of trains per day.
A builder’s plate indicates who built a particular piece of machinery, as well as the the model number, serial number, and date of manufacture. Here are some examples from the rolling stock of the railways of Russia and Ukraine.
What happens when you send a train out to sea? You get the Railklipper – a vessel built by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways) in 2005 to celebrate the country’s maritime history.
Railklipper was the first sailing train in Europe that was included on a rail timetable. The vessel made it’s debut on the Amstel River at the Carré Theatre on 3 August 2005 under the name ‘SailTrain’. With a ‘home port’ was Utrecht Centraal, the vessel made a number of test runs through the Netherlands, where Volendam, Haarlem, Rotterdam , Dordrecht and Utrecht were visited.
From 17 to 21 August, Railklipper took part in the ‘Sail Amsterdam’ event, providing a passenger service between Amsterdam Central Station and the temporary ‘station’ Amsterdam-Javakade in the Eastern Docklands where the event took place. From 2 to 4 September, the Rail Clipper was present at the ‘World Port Days’ event in Rotterdam.
The train itself was a Nederlandse Spoorwegen ‘V-IRM’ (Verlengd InterRegio Materieel) carriage, specially modified for use on the water. Again, from Dutch-language Wikipedia.
The Railkipper consisted of a head coach of V-IRM train set 9518 that was placed on the former ferry “Burgemeester van Lier”.
The vessel was approximately 32 meters long and 6.5 meters wide, and had a draft of 1.1 meters, with a total weight was 180 tons, and a top speed of 6 knots. The head coach had 60 seats. The Rail Clipper was controlled from the extra cab that was attached to the rear of the train, and adapted with a maritime steering system. A pantograph was installed on the roof for decoration.
The train was developed by employees of NS, in collaboration with the Maritime Technology department of the Technical University of Delft, technicians from hoist and transport company Mammoet, stand builder Exhibits International , and MAPS Originals.
On September 13, 2005 the head carriage was removed from the ferry to be able to form another train set (8656) with other V-IRM coaches. The text ‘Rail clipper’ still appears to be on the carriage.
The extra head from which the Rail Clipper was operated for on the water has also been preserved and is stored in the former car workshop in Amersfoort . This is regularly exhibited at the NS on an open day under the motto of Milieubesparing bij de NS (‘Saving the environment at the NS’). This head has been completely dismantled from the inside of the entire control unit, but the extra windows that were needed due to the maritime traffic laws are still in place.
