Kryvyi Rih Metrotram - History

History

The design of the Metrotram seen in Kryvyi Rih has its roots in the socialist urban planning guidelines that were formulated in the 1960s, based on models of the emergence of new urban centers and the transport arrangements that would suit them, in particular, how a small settlement would grow into a full-sized city and at what pointa rapid transit system would need to be built. Kryvyi Rih and Volgograd were both chosen to test whether construction of a full-scale metro system could be invoided by adopting a light rail design for a socialist city. Both cities had developed tram networks, but like most urban centres, overcrowding and widespread congestion proved too much for the trams to serve as the main transport arteries. Moreover, both cities were destroyed in World War II and rebuilt, with all the requirements of a modern city considered in planning.

In both cases the Metrotram was intended to serve only an interim, albeit necessary, role, with provision for conversion into a full metro system. Construction in both cities began simultaneously in the mid 1970s. In Volgograd, this involved separating off an existing tram route with an underground section in the city centre. In Kryvyi Rih, however, the Metrotram route was built from scratch, albeit in a similar manner, with most of the section running along the surface, except in the very centre of the city. All of the underground dimensions were made with provision for eventual conversion into a full metro system.

As the Kryvyi Rih Metrotram was built from scratch, even stops in the surface sections are referred to as stations (as opposed to stops) and all are separate complexes. Each station is an architectural monument for its own neighborhood, in the style of late Soviet architecture.

On December 26, 1986, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic received its third underground rapid-transit system, after Kiev and Kharkiv metros.

On April 1, 2007, Zhovtneva station was renamed Imeni Hutovskoho.