History
Yekaterinburg, formerly called Sverdlovsk, was always known as the informal capital of the Urals, a natural divide between Europe and Asia, between Siberia and the European Russia. The city grew very rapidly because it was an important industrial centre and a transport hub. Plans for a rapid-transit system began in the late 1970s, and in 1980 construction began.
The city's uneven landscape, as well as its layout with a very dense city centre, prompted to combine deep and shallow stations. On 26 April 1991, the sixth Metro of Russia and the thirteenth and last Metro of the Soviet Union, which had ceased to exist only a few months later, was finally opened to the public. However, the economic crisis of the early 1990s rocked the Metro very hard and the first stage encompassed only three stations. However, then Russian president Boris Yeltsin diverted funds to complete its construction and by 1995 the Metro was doubled in length. Since then, only two extensions have been built.
Read more about this topic: Yekaterinburg Metro
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