Kiev Metro - History

History

The story for a rapid transit system in Kiev originates back to 1916 when businessmen of the Russo-American trading corporation attempted to collect funds to sponsor construction of a metro in Kiev, which previously has been a pioneering city for Imperial Russian rapid transit, like opening of the first Russian tram system. After the downfall of the Tsarist government Hetman Skoropadsky was also much interested in building the system, but after the downfall of the Hetmanate in the autumn of 1918 Ukraine plunged into chaos of Civil War and the project was shelved for good.

Following the Bolsheviks' victory in the Russian Civil War, Kiev became only a provincial city and no large scale proposals to improve the city were drawn. Two decades later all this changed when in 1934, the capital of the Ukrainian SSR was moved from Kharkiv to Kiev. On July 9, 1936, the Presidium of the Kyiv City Council looked at a project by Papazov (Papazian), an Armenian graduate of the Moscow University of Transport Engineering, called, "The Project of the Kyiv Metro." The meeting minutes stated that, "the author successfully resolved one of the problems of reconstruction of the city of Kyiv and establishment of intra-city transportation and also answered various practical questions pertaining to the Metro plan." The engineer Papazov (Papazian) received a bonus of 1000 rubles for this project from the City of Kyiv.

Following the terrible destruction suffered by the city in the war, a massive reconstruction was opened for the capital of the third largest city in the USSR. This time the Metro was in the plan and construction began in August 1949. Eleven years later the first 5.2 kilometre segment from the Vokzalna to Dnipro.

Those five stations formed the central part of what is today known as the Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line, which runs from the west to the east of the city. The line crossed the Dnieper river in 1965 across a newly constructed Metro Bridge and went east to the large residential areas being built on the left bank of the river, with subsequent extensions in 1968 and 1971. At the same time it extended to Kiev's westernmost residential areas of Sviatoshyn and Bilychi in three stages 1963, 1971 and 2003.

Construction of the second line began in the early 1970s and the first three stations were opened in 1976. What became known as the Kurenivsko-Chervonoarmiyska Line continued expanding. In two stages (in 1980 and 1982) it reached Obolon, then the largest residential district, in northern Kiev. At the same time construction continued to the southwest with new stations added in 1981-84.

Construction of the third, Syretsko-Pecherska Line began in 1981 for the first three station segment to open in 1989 in central Kiev. Following a northwest-southeast axis, in 1991 it continued up to the left bank of the Dnieper and by 1992 crossed the river and continued into the rapidly developing Poznyaky and Kharkivskyi residential districts which it reached in 1994. In mid late 1990s construction began on expansion to the older Syrets district in the northwest direction with stations opening in 1996, 2000 and 2004. In addition some of the intermediate stations were deliberately left unfinished and opened later: Pecherska (Opened in 1997) and Vyrlytsia (in 2006).

On December 15, 2010 three new stations (Demiivska, Holosiivska, and Vasylkivska) were opened in the direction of Teremki. On December 27, 2010 new station Vystavkovyi Tsentr was opened near the National Expocentre of Ukraine. Subsequent extension is not announced, but will include two branches with five stations in total.