Future
Gorkovskaya station - the first station on the right bank of Oka - has been open in November 2012, allowing the Nizhny Novgorod Metro to become the transport artery that it was designed to be.
Before 2012 extension the biggest problem was that despite being the longest of its "new" Russian Metro rivals (new refers to Novosibirsk, Samara and Yekaterinburg) it had a passenger traffic that was one of the lowest - 16.8 million annual ridership in 2004. For comparison, the Novosibirsk system was almost double that.
The root of this problem was not the layout but the Soviet priorities on stage openings, over the past decade, the new Russian population's social structure greatly changed. Many chose to abandon the factories and, particularly the younger generation, in favour of a career in commerce. For Nizhny Novgorod this had a great effect on the daily transport pattern, where the city centre became a nexus for the region's business. Many agree that it was a grave mistake not to link up the two banks of the Oka river prior to continuing the expansion into the residential districts.
Construction of Metrobridge began in 1995. It was built in November 2009.
After extension to the historical centre of the city, there are two major suggestions for further development:
1. Extension of Sormovskaya Line to Sormovo. At present Sormovoskaya Line is quite a mess. Neither the first segment of the line, nor its one extension to a surface station — Burevestnik actually reach Sormovo proper and ends amid an industrial zone. Many commuters thus choose not to use the Metro altogether as they would be forced to switch to land transport anyway. It was chosen to use part of the surface railway's tracks for completion of the line. The northern extension of the Sormovskaya Line began at the same time when the station pit was dug up for the future Yarmarka station, but since it has been disbanded and covered up.
2. Eastern extension of the line in the city centre with construction of stations Operny teatr (Opera house) and Sennaya. Still there is fear that the first station on the right bank — Gorkovskaya would not be able to deal with the massive passenger traffic, meaning that the right bank will have to open with several stations.
Read more about this topic: Nizhny Novgorod Metro
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