Tag Archives: Kiev Metro

What happens if you combine a turntable with a train lift?

Turntables are a common sight on railways, allowing rolling stock to be turned around. But the Kiev Metro had a unique piece of engineering at their first train depot – the «Метролифт» (metrolift) that combined turntable with train lift. The […]

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Hidden tracks of the Kiev Metro

The Kiev Metro is a relatively simple system – three independent metro lines running across the city, with passengers changing between them at one of three interchange stations. However trains do have a way of making their way between the […]

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Retrofitting an underground station to the Kiev Metro

How does one go about retrofitting a station to an existing underground railway? It was was problem that Ukrainian engineers solved in the 1970s, when Teatralna (Театральна) was added to the Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line of the Kiev Metro system. Photo by […]

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Kiev’s metro tunnel that is actually a bridge

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. Image by AMY, via […]

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Ghost stations of the Kiev Metro

Hidden beneath the streets of Kiev, Ukraine is something unusual – a trio of unused metro stations that see train pass through, but never stop. Львiвська Брама (Lvivska Brama) Львiвська Брама (Lvivska Brama) is the best known of the three […]

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Builder’s plates on Russian-built trains

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. ЭД4МК […]

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Interchange stations on Soviet metro systems

Interchange stations on Soviet designed metro systems are a little odd for anyone accustomed to urban rail networks elsewhere in the world – the platforms for each line are treated as their own station, with their own street entrance, and […]

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Newsagents: then and now

Here’s a traditional newsstand on the Kiev Metro. And the modern equivalent in Moscow – a bank of newspaper vending machines. Given how the internet has decimated traditional print media, how long until even the vending machines disappear?

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Building blocks of a Soviet metro station

In cities of the former Soviet Union such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Kiev, you will find an metro networks filled with ornately decorated underground stations, none of which look the same. But if you look a little deeper at the strcture of each, you will find that each of these stations actually have a common set of building blocks that they all follow.

Ornate decorations at platform level Continue reading

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Escalator attendants of the former Soviet Union

Across the former Soviet Union there are many metro stations found deep below ground, with incredibly long flights of escalators linking them to the surface. That in itself is not unusual, but there is one feature of them which is – escalator attendants.

Bank of four escalators at Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Майдан Незалежності) station Continue reading

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