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The Kiev Metro is a metro system that is the mainstay of Kiev's public transport. It was the first metro in Ukraine and the third one in the USSR (after Moscow and Saint Petersburg). Kiev Metro carries 1.6 million passengers daily, accounting for 34% of 4.7 million people who use the city's public transport system every day. In 2004, the number of trips totaled 559 million.

Lines and stations

(The colours in the table correspond to the colours of the lines in the Kiev metro map.)

Kiev metro consists of 3 lines following the standard Soviet triangle layout of six radii intersecting in the centre, where most of the stations are very deep and could double as a bomb shelter. The 45 stations are split almost evenly between deep level and sub-surface stations. The former compromise 20 stations, of which 15 are of pylon type, 3 are of column type, and 2 stations are vall-columned. Of the 19 sub-surface stations, 12 stations are of pillar-trispan type and one is a side-platform pillar bi-span, 5 more are single vaults, and 1 is a single deck. In addition, 6 stations are located above ground, of which four are surface level, and the rest are estacade.

Two depots provide a total of 617 cars which form 109 trains that travel 56.9 km of track length carrying 1.7 million passengers daily between 6:00 and until 0:00 when the metro is open to them. Stations usually have large entrance halls, which often host vendors.

History

The planning of a rapid transit system in Kiev began back in 1934, after the capital of the Ukrainian SSR was moved from Kharkiv to Kiev. World War II, however, delayed the start of construction until 1949, and the first five stations were opened only in 1960. Those stations formed the central part of what is known as the Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line, which which runs from west to east of the city. The line crossed the Dnieper river in 1965 across a newly constructed Metro Bridge and was expanded to Kiev westernmost residential area of Svyatoshyn in 1971. The first stations of the Kurenivsko-Chervonoarmiyska Line, which stretches from north to south, were opened in 1976, and in the 1980s the line reached Obolon, then the largest residential district, in the north of Kiev. Syretsko-Pecherska Line opened in 1989 with the first 3 stations in central Kiev. In 1994, the line reached the left bank of the Dnieper and crossed the river in 1996 and now Syretsko-Pecherska Line connects the rapidly developing Poznyaky and Kharkivskyi residential areas with the city centre and with the older Syrets neighbourhood.

Architecture

Metro systems in the former Soviet Union are known for their vivid and colourful decorations, and Kiev metro is no exception. The original stations are elaborately decorated, blending together traditional Ukrainian motives with those of postwar Stalinist architecture. From the mid-1960s, however, functionality became the most important factor in the metro architecture. Only in the 1970s did decorative architecture start to make a rapid recovery.

The stations built from the 1980s onwards show more innovative designs that influenced stations in other cities in the USSR. After the 1991 Ukrainian independence following the breakup of the Soviet Union, some of the decorations featuring Soviet symbols were altered or removed altogether which created a conflict with the original architectural composition of those stations.

Language issues

When the Metro was opened in 1960, although many workers and all technical level documents were using Russian, nevertheless all the signs and announcements used Ukrainian exclusively. The grammatical closeness of the languages did allow for every station to have a Russian translation and these were often given in all Russian language literature and media. However some Ukrainian names for stations were different from Russian ones, and to signify this, those stations were semi-translated semi-transliterated into Russian, effectively blending Ukrainian words into Russian grammar. Examples of this include Zhovnteva and Chervonoarmiyska (both later renamed to Beresteiska and Palats Ukrayina respectively) when translated into Russian would become Oktyabrskaya and Krasnoarmeiskaya, were instead given as Zhovtnevaya and Chervonoarmeiskaya.

During the 1980s partly due to Shcherbytsky's gradual Russification campaign, partly to Kiev becoming increasingly Russophone, the metro became almost exclusively Russian. Although the stations retained their original Ukrainian titles on the vestibules, Russian was added mixed in with Ukrainian on the walls, and replaced Ukrainian in signs and voice announcements. Stations that were opened during this period still had Ukrainian appearing along with Russian on the walls, but now all the decorations, where slogans were required, too became bilingual. Also during this time the unique practice of blending Ukrainian into Russian was dropped, and those selected stations were called in standard Russian translation.

In the perestroika liberalisation of the late 1980s, bilingualism was gradually introduced in signs and in voice announcements in the trains. Prior to 1991 this was done with Ukrainian following Russian, but after the republic's proclamation of Independence in August 1991 the order was changed to Ukrainian preceding Russian. After the fall of the Soviet Union in late 1991 both signs and voice announcements were changed again from bilingual to Ukrainian-only during the Ukrainianization campaign that followed the nation's independence. However the Russian names are still used in Russian-language literature and some documentation, also some of the decorations that featured bilingual slogans were retained.

Future Plans

The Kurenivsko-Chervonoarmiyska Line and Syretsko-Pecherska Line are being extended with plans for new stations stretching beyond 2020. Kurenivsko-Chervonoarmiyska Line will expand southwards to the residential area of Teremky. Syretsko-Pecherska Line will extend north-westwards to Vynohradar neighborhood and on the left bank of the Dnieper from the exisitng Boryspilska station to the Livoberezhna station.

A fourth line, called Podilsko-Vyhurivska, with brown as its proposed colour, is planned for opening in 2009 or 2010. Initially, it will have three stations, all at the intersections with the existing lines. Future plans for this line include making it run north of and parallel to the Svyatoshynsko-Brovarska Line on the left bank of the Dnieper.

A fifth line, Livoberezhna, is planned to be launched in 2009 will run from north to south along the left bank of the Dnieper, intersecting with the Podilsko-Vyhurivska Line and the Svyatoshynsko-Brovarska Line at the Livoberezhna station. The line will provide metro services to Troyeshchyna, Kiev's largest residential area. Which will also convert some of the fast tram services into the city.

External links

• Template:Uk icon Official Kiev metro website
• Template:Ru icon Kiev metro site, supported by railfans
• Template:En icon Kiev metro site at UrbanRail
• Template:En icon Kiev metro English map at Best of Ukraine

Template:Metros in FSU

• Rail transport in Ukraine
• Rapid transit in Europe
• Transport in Kiev city