Kalininskaya Line - History

History

The line's pilot stage, which would see it extending from Taganskaya through Lefortovo and into the eastern districts of Perovo, Novogireevo and Veshnyaki was opened for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The line bears all traits of the late 1970s architecture and engineering. No longer pressed for economy designs and aesthetics, the architects were given full freedom to use advanced materials.

The engineers were able to introduce new designs, particularly for the Column stations of Marksistskaya and Aviamotornaya which were built without ventral crosspieces allowing a huge economy in time by abandoning the use of tubings. The shallow column station of Novogireevo further demonstrated its parting with previous centipede roots by increasing inter-column width from six to seven and a half metres.

What makes the line unique is its name, as it was originally named after partially passing the Kalinin district, which disappeared in the 1990s. Thus the line is the only in Moscow which carries the name of a figurehead, Mikhail Kalinin rather than the area it serves.

In 1986 the line's first extension opened, with the station Tretyakovskaya, the third cross-platform transfer in Moscow Metro was set up this way. It was planned for the line to continue and link up with the Arbatskaya station of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line, allowing it to be split and the old route Aleksandrovsky Sad—Ploshchad Revolyutsii route to be reused, whilst the Kalininskaya line, now operating to Kievskaya would extend southwestwards. (See Solntsevskaya Line for more details.)

This was not to be realised, and the western extension plans stalled for more than two decades due to the financial instability of the 1990s and other priorities.