Tag Archives: Ukraine

Mobile traction substations for powering trains and trams

Posted on August 5, 2021 by Marcus Wong

The power for an electric railway has to come from somewhere – and that place is a traction substation, a facility that convert hogh voltage electricity from the power grid to the voltage and frequency that trains or trams use. […]

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Turning trams on a turntable in Kiev

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Marcus Wong

Unidirectional trams are common across Eastern Europe and the former USSR, with reversing loops provided so trams can turn around for their reverse journeys. But the Ukrainian capital of Kiev once turned trams a different way – on a turntable. […]

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

Posted on June 3, 2021 by Marcus Wong

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

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Marcus Wong

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

Posted on November 7, 2019 by Marcus Wong

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 or Kyiv – what to call the Ukrainian capital

Posted on March 14, 2019 by Marcus Wong

During my 2012 trip to Europe the only reason I had for visiting Kiev was to visit Chernobyl, but I ended up loving the city so much I was sad to leave it so soon. But one thing I never […]

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Freight trams of Europe

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Marcus Wong

Trams are usually used to carry passengers, but across Europe there are a handful of tramway networks that also carry freight. Pure freight The best known in the English speaking world is the ‘CarGoTram‘ of Dresden, Germany. Photo by kaffeeeinstein, […]

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Kiev’s metro tunnel that is actually a bridge

Posted on August 16, 2018 by Marcus Wong

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

Posted on August 2, 2018 by Marcus Wong

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

Posted on May 10, 2018 by Marcus Wong

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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